British Airways could resume flights at 50 per cent capacity as early as July, it has today been revealed.
But bosses of the airline’s parent company, International Airline Group (IAG), have also warned it could take up to three years for passenger numbers to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
BA grounded all of its flights from Gatwick in March after the outbreak of coronavirus.
But bosses at IAG, which also own Irish airline, Aer Lingus, say they hope to make a ‘meaningful return’ in July ‘at the earliest’.
However they also warned that Covid-19 is having a ‘devastating impact’ on the global airline and travel sectors.
As a result, they predict passenger demand will not recover to pre-crisis levels until 2023.
The warning comes a week after IAG bosses revealed up to the jobs of up to 12,000 BA staff were at risk of redundancy.
British Airways could resume flights at 50 per cent capacity as early as this summer. Pictured: British Airways planes parked on the runway at Bournemouth Airport in Dorset this week
Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of BA and Aer Lingus, said: ‘We are planning for a meaningful return to service in July 2020 at the earliest, depending on the easing of lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world.
‘We will adapt our operating procedures to ensure our customers and our people are properly protected in this new environment.
Willie Walsh (pictured), chief executive of International Airlines Group, the parent company of BA and Aer Lingus, said the firm was planning a ‘meaningful return to service in July 2020 at the earliest’
‘However, we do not expect passenger demand to recover to the level of 2019 before 2023 at the earliest.
‘This means group-wide restructuring is essential in order to get through the crisis and preserve an adequate level of liquidity.’
He added: ‘We intend to come out of the crisis as a stronger group.’
The warning comes as last week, bosses at IAG said it was formally notifying trade unions about a proposed restructuring and redundancy programme.
Up to 12,000 BA staff could face redundancy due to the changes.
BA had previously furloughed more than half of its 45,000 workers on the government’s job retention scheme.
The redundancy plans include cutting 1,100 pilots and making heavy cuts to its operation at Gatwick.
The airline suspended all flights from the Sussex airport at the end of March following the outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK.
In a statement, IAG said: ‘In light of the impact of Covid-19 on current operations and the expectation that the recovery of passenger demand to 2019 levels will take several years, British Airways is formally notifying its trade unions about a proposed restructuring and redundancy programme.
‘The proposals remain subject to consultation but it is likely that they will affect most of British Airways’ employees and may result in the redundancy of up to 12,000 of them.
‘As previously announced, British Airways has availed itself of the UK’s Covid-19 job retention scheme and furloughed 22,626 employees in April.’
The plans for a return to services come as IAG chiefs report a huge drop in passenger numbers since the outbreak of coronavirus, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000 people in the UK.
IAG chiefs say that due to the coronavirus and subsequent travel restrictions, passenger capacity fell 94 per cent from late March, with most aircraft grounded, or operating a reduced service for repatriation and cargo-only flights.
Bosses of the Anglo-Spanish multinational insisted, when going into the crisis, the firm has a strong balance sheet with £8.7 billion.
IAG has dipped into the Bank of England’s loan scheme for British Airways for £300 million.
To reduce spending, day-to-day cash costs were cut from £384million per week to £174million per week.
The firm added it is planning a ‘meaningful return’ to service in July with capacity of 50 per cent in 2020, although the company added: ‘These plans are highly uncertain and subject to the easing of lockdowns and travel restrictions’.
However, passenger demand will not recover to pre-crisis levels until 2023, it predicted, leading to 68 planes due for delivery now likely to be deferred.
In the three months to March 31, IAG said capacity was down 10.5 per cent compared with 2019, with a first quarter operating loss before one-off costs of £467million.
There was a one-off charge in the quarter of £1.1billion to untangle complicated hedges on fuel and currency exchange costs.
Mr Walsh said: ‘The operating result up to the end of February was in line with a year ago. However, March’s performance was severely affected by government travel restrictions due to the rapid spread of Covid-19 which significantly impacted demand.’
Mr Walsh gave his backing for temperature screening of passengers at airports, after Heathrow announced on Wednesday that it will trial the measure.
The airline, which grounded all flights from Gatwick in March after the outbreak of coronavirus, could make a ‘meaningful return’ in July, according to bosses of its parent company
He said: ‘We believe that temperature checks on departure and on arrival, that’s an appropriate measure and we do support it.
‘We also support the mandatory use of face coverings, and that I expect to be required on a European-wide basis.’
He confirmed his delayed retirement will now take place on September 24, with Iberia boss Luis Gallego taking over then.
Sir Richard Branson has warned that Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives Government support, with more than 3,000 jobs set to go.