International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has cut its growth forecast for the next few years in response to an expected slump in passenger capacity growth.

IAG, which owns British Airways, Aer Lingus, Vueling and Iberia, said growth in available seat kilometres (ASK) is expected to be 3.4%, down from a previous forecast of 6%.
It added average earnings per share growth would be 10% in the three years from 2020 to 2022, down from its previous estimate of 12%.IAG’s operating profit margin forecast remains between 12-15%.

Year-on-year traffic increased 4.8% in October while capacity increased 2.7%.
In total, the group carried 10.4 million passengers in October compared to 10 million a year ago, with BA’s passenger numbers up 1.1% to 4.17m last month.
Load factor increased to 85% from 83.3%.