British Airways' profits jump despite Heathrow fire closure
British Airways' half-year earnings have increased despite a £40 million hit from the closure of Heathrow in March after a substation fire, as the airline ramped up its flight programme.
The carrier reported a 48% jump in underlying operating profits to £824 million for the six months to June 30, up from £555 million a year ago.
Owner International Airline Group (IAG) said earnings were driven higher at British Airways as it increased flight capacity by 2.1% and boosted passenger revenues.
The wider IAG company – which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling – posted a 43.5% rise in earnings to £1.88 billion for the first half.
Pre-tax profits rose sharply to £1.75 billion from £1.05 billion a year ago.
IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said: 'Our strong performance in the first half of 2025 reflects the resilience of demand for travel and the success of our ongoing transformation, underpinned by the fundamental strengths of our group.
'We continue to benefit from the trend of a structural shift in consumer spending towards travel.
'We remain focused on our market-leading brands and core geographies, where we continue to see robust performance, allowing us to invest in fleet as well as technology to improve operational efficiency and customer experience.
'These results give us confidence that we will deliver good earnings growth and margin progression for the full year and enable us to create value for our shareholders through our sustainable dividend and the share buyback.'
British Airways revealed in May that costs of the Heathrow closure earlier this year had run up to £40 million.
The temporary closure was caused by a power outage after a blaze at the North Hyde substation in west London, with more than 270,000 air passenger journeys disrupted by the incident.
In the first-half figures, BA owner IAG said it was 'confident in delivering good earnings growth' for the group over the full-year.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
8 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Retirees pull billions from pension pots to escape Reeves's tax raid
Middle-class Britons risk a retirement 'disaster' after a record £5bn was pulled from pension pots in the wake of Rachel Reeves's inheritance tax raid. Official figures showed 672,000 retirees, representing roughly 5pc of all pensioners, pulled £5bn from their pots in the first three months of this year. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the amount taken from retirement funds was 25pc higher than the same quarter a year ago, with 13pc more people withdrawing money. It means withdrawals during the period were the highest since George Osborne introduced pension freedoms a decade ago. It comes after the Chancellor announced in her maiden Budget last October that pension pots would no longer be exempt from inheritance tax from April 2027, making them subject to a levy of up to 40pc. Baroness Altmann, a former Tory pensions minister, urged the Chancellor to reverse the policy, warning that many more people would choose to withdraw money from their retirement pot as soon as possible, creating a 'pensioner poverty time bomb'. Sweeping changes mean retirees can now withdraw unlimited amounts from their pot as soon as they hit 55. The figures also revealed a 50pc increase in the number of octogenarians taking money out of their pensions over the course of last year with the amount withdrawn by those aged 81 and over up by 80pc to £360m. 'It's a disaster' The Chancellor hopes to raise £1.5bn from her decision to bring pensions within the scope of inheritance tax. Pension withdrawals from defined contribution pots above the 25pc tax-free lump sum incur an income tax charge of 20pc for basic rate taxpayers and a 40pc levy at the higher rate. The changes mean heirs will be subject to both inheritance and income tax at the marginal rate from 2027. 'It's a disaster,' Lady Altmann said, adding that she expected withdrawals to accelerate as more people became aware of the looming inheritance tax charge. She added that the 'draconian' way the policy was introduced was storing up a crisis for the future, and said she was pushing for changes in the Lords that would see beneficiaries charged a maximum 20pc 'pension recovery tax' instead on inherited pots. Lady Altmann said: 'This policy could end up being as damaging to workplace pensions as Gordon Brown's tax rate was for DB [defined benefit] pensions. 'I honestly think this is an existential threat to the long-term survival of our DC [defined contribution] pensions, because there's a clear incentive to take the money out as soon as you possibly can.' She added that this would leave many middle-class families in danger of not leaving themselves enough to fund their retirement. Lady Altmann said: 'This IHT [inheritance tax] imposition will ensure that more and more people – especially those who don't have massive amounts of money – will just say, 'Why on earth would I want to lose two thirds of my pension to the taxman? I'll just take it out as soon as I can.' 'Those who build up, say, between £200,000 and £300,000 over their working life are now in danger of having a real financial incentive not to keep money in their pensions for their later life and then end up in poverty.' 'Taking a big hit' Guy Opperman, another former pensions minister, said: 'Pensions are taking a big hit from the Government's actions. 'The consequences of this policy are clear: people will save less for their pension and will withdraw more. This will also affect the ability to pass money on. There is time for the Government to think again and they should. It is very short-term.' Jamie Jenkins, director of policy at pensions giant Royal London, which manages more than £170bn of client cash, said there was already clear evidence that people were changing their retirement planning ahead of the changes. He said: 'There is increased interest from advisers and their clients in how they can mitigate the potential inheritance tax bill.' Claire Trott, at wealth managers St James's Place, added: 'Every individual's circumstances are different, but IHT changes to pensions have certainly triggered more conversations about gifting strategies and whether it makes sense to start drawing from pensions earlier.' An HM Treasury spokesman said: 'We continue to incentivise pensions savings for their intended purpose – of funding retirement instead of them being openly used as a vehicle to transfer wealth – and more than 90pc of estates each year will continue to pay no inheritance tax after these and other changes.'
The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The Greyhound, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire: ‘An oligarch's saloon bar teetering on the edge of chintz' – restaurant review
Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire is heroically lovely, but it does have about it a heavy whiff of the Hot Fuzz. It's a market town with a nearby model village, while the 'best things to do' section on TripAdvisor highlights the cemetery or a trip to the former residence of writer GK Chesterton. If all that fails to thrill, you could just go for lunch at the pub – although be aware that the Greyhound isn't anything as simple as a plain old gastropub. Heck no, that would be something completely different: more shabbily chic, more carbohydrates on the menu, fewer staff calling you 'Madam' while you're en route to the loo and not even a hint of white peach granita on your burrata starter. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Rather, this is a charming, pale-fronted pub in a grade II 17th-century former coaching inn that also boasts a decidedly fancy and swanky restaurant that steers well away from muddy wellies and sticky toffee pudding, and instead pitches its tent in the land of wood pigeon with white beetroot and lavender, Norfolk chicken pressé with pickled girolles and sweetcorn, and ajo blanco with grapes, cantaloupe melon and nasturtium. And, to be fair, it might well not be for everyone. Gourmands, birthday treats and special occasions, perhaps, but picky children and Aunty Pam who just wants toad-in-the-hole might find the semi-formality a bit testing. Over at the Ritz in London, I note that they call this style of dining 'an epicurean journey', which is, I feel, modern shorthand for small yet significant portions of largely French-influenced gastronomy heaving with finesse, technique and accomplishment. Whether or not epicurean journeys are delicious is a moot point, however, because we are here to gasp spellbound at the chef's imagination and to nod sagely as a surprise amuse-bouche of fresh peas and lovage is delivered in a teeny ramekin with an equally ickle spoon. That's followed by an equally precise and inoffensive minuscule tartlet of fresh sweetcorn and whipped cream cheese. Decor-wise, and despite its L'Enclume vibes, the Greyhound hasn't gone fully stripped back with stone floors and crofter's cottage chic, as so many other highfalutin country pubs have done, and prefers instead to complement its olde-worlde low beams and wooden floors with warm, cinnamon-coloured leather horseshoe banquettes, patterned wallpaper, bottle-green velour cocktail chairs and modern art on every wall. This may be an oligarch's saloon bar teetering on the edge of chintz, but it's still hugely cosy and welcoming. Daytrippers lured this way by the model village could not help but be seduced by its sheer quaintness. We ordered from the à la carte, rather than the six-plus course, £110-a-head tasting menu, and began with a pleasant bowl of La Latteria burrata in a green nasturtium pesto and topped with a sweet, peachy granita. Hereford rump cap tartare looked like something out of a fairytale, and was served very roughly chopped and arranged like a bird's nest around a miso confit egg, pickled shimeji mushrooms and some capers. A main of roast sea bass had a gorgeously crisp skin and came with a silky spin on beurre blanc and some rather al dente braised baby fennel. Another main of wood pigeon erred on the side of well done and was submerged in a rich cherry jus that resembled nothing so much as a crime scene. There's some clever, cogent cooking going on at the Greyhound, with some hits, some misses, but an overall sense that, in a bid to be the best restaurant for miles around, they might just be missing the chance to be simply delicious. Still, diners all around us, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, were having a lovely time of it, and the restaurant was ticking over very nicely, thank you, especially for a Tuesday evening. It was only in the dessert list where a mood of pure decadence was allowed to let rip and flourish, because here we had îles flottantes with limoncello custard and raspberry souffle with sarsaparilla sorbet. Beforehand, we had foxtrotted neatly and nimbly around the world of fine dining, but thank God we were now in the sugary and comparatively silly ante-room. We opted for the heavenly sounding blackcurrant tart, which turned out to be a fat, chunky, individual tart with a crisp, buttery casing loaded with berries and clotted cream, all infused with the sharp kick of lemon verbena to break through all the lactose richness; best of all, it was topped by a glorious blackcurrant sorbet. Now we were talking. On the tasting menu, I noticed that they serve Yoredale Wensleydale with homebaked fig loaf and chutneys, which sounds equally rustic and exquisite. If only the Greyhound did more fig loaf and less forlock-tugging, I might well be back for more. The Greyhound 33 Windsor End, Beaconsfield Buckinghamshire, 01494 671315. Open Tues-Sat, lunch noon-1.30pm (2pm Fri & Sat), dinner 6.30-8.30pm (last orders). From about £70 a head à la carte; set lunch £40 for two courses, £49 for three; six-course tasting menu £110 (£95 vegetarian or vegan), all plus drinks and service The next episode of Grace's Comfort Eating podcast is out on Tuesday 5 August – listen to it here.
Telegraph
38 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The British public deserves to know what Miliband discussed with Beijing
When the Government signed a deal on net-zero co-operation with Canada, the text of the memorandum was published. So too were the texts of deals with Ireland, Norway, South Korea and Chile. Five months after the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband signed a similar memorandum with the Chinese government, however, we are still in the dark as to precisely what was agreed. Chinese media have asserted that the Energy Secretary agreed to co-operation on power grids, battery storage, offshore wind power and carbon capture, among other areas; it is understood that Chinese investment in the UK was not discussed by Mr Miliband. The role of the Chinese state in Britain's net-zero ambitions may well be an uncomfortable issue for the Labour Government to discuss. While the Defence Secretary is insisting that Britain is 'ready to fight' over the future of Taiwan and the Foreign Secretary is explicitly referring to China as a 'sophisticated and persistent threat' that requires hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding for the intelligence services, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been courting Chinese investment, and Mr Miliband's drive to meet his net-zero targets is heavily dependent on Chinese industry. Both the switch to electric vehicles and the decarbonisation of the energy grid will make heavy use of Chinese products. One study commissioned by the German defence ministry recently warned that this position at the heart of Western energy systems could result in Beijing enjoying the power to trigger remote shut-downs as 'an instrument of economic warfare'. Such concerns are less hypothetical than we might wish. Earlier this year, undocumented communication devices were located in Chinese-made power inverters exported to the United States, triggering fears that Beijing could use compromised equipment to 'physically destroy the grid'. This would be fully in line with the current approach of the People's Liberation Army to warfare as a clash between systems, and the extensive Volt Typhoon operation carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors. Even given the understandable desire to avoid a sudden break with China, the delicacy of the balance between trade and reliance is such that the British public deserves to know what Mr Miliband has discussed with Beijing.
