Release of IAG annual figures | News
CEO Sean Doyle – I share an exciting update for colleagues on the fantastic performance at British Airways following the announcement of IAG’s annual results. 2025 has been a record year for British Airways and I’m pleased to see people from all areas of the business working hard for our customers as part of our £7 billion investment.
Last week, IAG announced the group’s financial performance for 2025. At British Airways we achieved an operating profit of £2,230m – up £182m on 2024 – at an operating margin of 15.2%, (+1.0 points on last year), up +1.7% on 2024, demonstrating a strong year of both operational and financial performance.
In 2025, we delivered strong operating profit as we continue our company-wide transformation to modernize our airline, improve every experience for customers and colleagues, and build a more resilient and sustainable business for the future. Thanks to the hard work of teams across the company, we completed 600 improvement projects last year, taking us to more than 1,200.
That progress is starting to become visible. Our operation is stronger, punctuality is at record levels and customer satisfaction continues to improve. It’s a fantastic achievement and one I’m very proud of as we continue to build a better BA.
A stronger operation and happier customers
This year was a record for on-time performance on our mainline network, with 82% of flights departing within 15 minutes (D15), up from 73% in 2024. It is our best operational performance since 2011 and the strongest winter performance (Q4) on record.
We have flown 46.7* million customers to 183 destinations, across almost 308,000 flights. Improvements in our operations and onboard experience helped increase our Net Promoter Score – the measure of customer satisfaction – by 10.5 points compared to 2024 – 5.2 points above target and our best result since 2019. Reliable operations were the biggest driver and accounted for 70% of the improvement, including better on-time and fewer cancellations, creating a smoother customer experience. Together with the brilliant service from our colleagues, initiatives such as Group 0 boarding, reduced boarding groups, automated announcements and continued investment in food and drink – including premium wine upgrades and Birchall tea – have all helped to increase customer satisfaction.
In addition to delivering new aircraft with our new short-haul interior cabins, we opened the new era of First Wing at our home at London Heathrow and unveiled our new global lounge concept in Miami and Dubai – both to excellent customer feedback. These lounges set the standard for future lounge developments, with our Heathrow lounges next in line for a complete redevelopment. Behind the scenes, we also launched BA Engineering Gatwick (BAEG), strengthening the long-term growth and transformation of British Airways Engineering.
While we are proud of our success, we also faced operational challenges, most notably the power outage at Heathrow. Despite more than 700 cancellations, we were again able to carry out more than 95% of our schedule on the days that followed. This is thanks to investment in technology and the resilience of colleagues across the business who have worked tirelessly to get customers where they need to be.
In 2025, we will continue to work to reduce our impact on the environment, by implementing carbon reduction projects across the business, increasing our use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and working with government and industry to scale up carbon removal solutions. SAF accounted for 4.5% of our total fuel consumption, making British Airways the largest user of SAF within IAG. Since 2022, we have now removed more than 380 tonnes of single-use plastic from onboard, and the BA Better World Community Fund has raised more than £10 million to support 367 charities and community projects.
A look ahead to 2026
In 2026, our customers and colleagues will continue to see the difference. Free, super-fast Starlink Wi-Fi, a new First seat, the launch of our new music venue, the British Airways ARC in Olympia and a redesigned app will all help raise the bar even higher. A key commitment for the year is ‘Find it, Fix it’: tackling problems wherever we encounter them so that we continue to improve the experience for our customers and colleagues.
Starlink available from March
The Starlink rollout is making excellent progress and I am pleased to announce that the first British Airways flight with free Starlink Wi-Fi will depart in March. This is a complex and highly qualified upgrade to our fleet, and I would like to thank all our teams who are working hard to make this possible. I know our customers are looking forward to using this service soon.
New 787-10s for Gatwick
Last year we announced an order for 32 new Boeing 787-10 aircraft. I am pleased to announce that the first of these brand new aircraft will be delivered to Gatwick in 2029, beginning the replacement of our existing 777-200 fleet. These new aircraft, with crew bunks, will help us continue to improve the onboard experience for both customers and colleagues, while supporting the continued growth of our network.
Thank you to everyone who continues to play a role in our transformation as we build A Better BA for our customers, investors and colleagues.
