The strong growth came despite a slight year-over-year decline in transport volumes.
IAG Cargo, the air freight division of International Airlines Group, saw its commercial revenues rise 10.9 percent to 276 million euros (U.S. $329.1 million) in the first quarter of 2018, according to a status update from the company.
The strong revenue growth came despite a 0.7 percent year-over-year decline in transport volumes. IAG Cargo said its overall yield —average revenue per cargo ton mile — was up 11.8 percent compared with the first quarter of 2017, while air freight capacity grew 3.6 percent.
IAG Cargo CEO Lynne Embleton attributed the revenue growth in large part to a “buoyant” market for premium air cargo services.
“We’ve experienced good market conditions across the majority of our regions, with Europe and Asia Pacific — and particularly India — leading the way,” she said. “Our specialist pharmaceutical offering, Constant Climate, has delivered continued growth, moving life-saving vaccines across the globe. Critical, our must-fly non-off-loadable product, has surpassed 4,000 shipments since launch and has recently moved a variety of goods ranging from orthopedic prosthetics and snowboards, to the world’s most expensive perfume.
“Q1 has also seen us explore new ways of using technology in order to enhance our customer experience,” added Embleton. “Most notably, at the start of the year we undertook the first airside trial of a self-driving vehicle at a U.K. airport in a move to explore the future of autonomy in airport logistics.”
Embleton said the network offering continues to expand with a new route from Madrid to San Francisco launched in April; a London Gatwick-to- Toronto service that began operating Tuesday; the first-ever Dublin-Seattle flight launching May 18; and the Heathrow-Nashville flight that launched Friday.
“As 2018 progresses so will our investment across our operation, alongside our continued focus on enhancing the proposition and service we deliver for our customers,” Embleton said.
IAG Cargo Q1 revenues rise nearly 11 percent
