The Week In Travel

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has reported a ‘record’ first half profit of €1.3 billion this week. This is an increase of €1.7 billion compared to the first six months of 2022. The UK-based airline group, which includes British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, has also shared an encouraging outlook for the summer, revealing around 80% of expected Q3 revenue has already been booked. CEO Luis Gallego said the group aims to be “back to pre-pandemic capacity at the end of this year.”

Staying in the UK, British Airways has doubled the amount of content available for passengers on its inflight entertainment system. The airline now boasts more than 75 entire box sets, 50 new movie releases and 20 ‘classic franchise’, along with 770 music and podcast options. The carrier is also set to introduce new menu upgrades in lounges and onboard flights in the coming weeks.

In sustainability news, United Airlines’ Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund has increased its investment power to nearly $200m, just five months after its initial launch. Eight new corporate partners, including the Bank of America, American Express Global Business Travel, and JetBlue Ventures, are now supporting the initiative. In addition, customers are able to make contributions to the programme when booking flights with United, with 60,000 customers contributing a combined sum of over $200,000 to the fund since its inception.

Elsewhere in North America, emerging Canadian low-cost carrier, Flair Airlines, has announced 13 new winter routes to their network, including two weekly flights from London to Orlando. The winter flights will start from late October and have been added to the schedule to better connect both major and secondary Canadian airports to international destinations.

And finally, four drivers found themselves in a difficult situation after trying to park on a beach in Cornwall. Despite there allegedly being plenty of parking spaces available nearby, all four people decided that a space on the beach would be a ‘shore thing’. The vehicles all became stuck in the sand and had to be pulled to safety by two RNLI trucks, leaving the owners embarrassed in front of a cheering crowd. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, much to the chagrin of locals, with one stating “I don’t think we should help them” and another claiming the incident just goes to show “common sense isn’t really that common”.