Shares of International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (LON: IAG), which owns British Airways, fell more than 10% on Friday after the BA’s CEO said the company is fighting for survival.
Álex Cruz told Members of Parliament that the airline industry is fighting the worst crisis in aviation history.
He added: “People are afraid of travelling … and we are having weekly changes to the quarantine list. We are taking every measure possible to make sure we can actually make it through this winter. We don’t see a short-term coming-back of our passengers,” Cruz told MPs.
”There is no data to support that this is a temporary effect for the airline situation … Things have changed. The airline industry is fundamentally different,” he added.
Cruz added that the carrier had only 187,000 passengers last week, which is less than 20% of the number of passengers flown a year ago. British Airways is operating only 25-30% of its schedule, Cruz added.
“In the first quarter of 2009 we lost £309m. This year in the first quarter we lost £700m,” noted Cruz.
IAG share price trades around 10% lower at 116.50p as sellers eye levels below 110p.
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