Aviation company IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, among others, closed the first quarter of the year with an operational deficit of more than 1 billion pounds.

Just like its peers, IAG is struggling with the consequences of the corona crisis, which means that there is much less travel.

The airlines under the umbrella of IAG welcomed less than a fifth of the number of travellers in the first months compared to the situation before the crisis. In the current quarter, the company is counting on approximately a quarter of the number of travellers compared to the number of people who boarded an IAG flight in the second quarter of 2019.

In order to get through the crisis, IAG has also significantly reduced its costs. IAG is not unique in this. The development at the freight division, which was running at full speed, is also comparable to that of its peers. A total of 1,306 cargo flights were carried out by the IAG airlines. A record amount for a first quarter, the company said.

IAG’s total annual turnover fell by nearly 79 percent. Revenues generated by passengers were almost 90 percent below last year’s level. The debt also increased by almost a fifth to almost 10.6 billion pounds. Due to the great uncertainties surrounding the crisis, IAG is not making any forecasts for the whole year.