International Airlines Group (IAG) - has upgraded its profit forecast for 2015 by over 20 percent after posting a €1.3bn profit for 2014 - an increase of 81 percent on the previous year.
IAG’s fourth quarter operating profit was €260m before exceptional items - that’s an increase on a €113m profit posted in the same quarter in 2013.
The airline group said that profits were improved by the introduction of new fuel efficient aircrafts and low energy costs.
Speaking to Sky News, chief executive Willie Walsh said that Iberia had a particularly strong year - returning a profit of €50m, compared with an operating loss of €166m in 2013.
The Spanish airline made 1,427 redundancies following negotiations with trade unions as part of the restructuring of the airline - 4,500 jobs have been cut in recent years.
Mr Walsh spoke to Sky News about the possibility of Aer Lingus joining the group:
"We believe that Aer Lingus would be a good addition to IAG, the board and the management team of Aer Lingus recognise the value of that, and have strongly supported our bid."
He added that he was restricted regarding what he could say about the bid but he believes that IAG could help Aer Lingus to grow.
He concluded: "We remain excited about the prospect of Aer Lingus being part of IAG."
