IAG Cargo has recorded a year-on-year increase in revenues in the first quarter of this year, which it attributed to “cargo markets still impacted by the pandemic”.

The carrier posted revenues of €350m in the first three months of this year — 50% higher than the same period a year earlier.

Overall yield for the quarter was up 106% on last year, while sold tonnes declined by 20.9%.

Elizabeth Haun, chief financial officer said: “We have made a strong start to 2021, building on the success of 2020. Through hard work and dedication, our team continued to provide solutions for our customers to keep world trade operating, drawing on an extensive charter offering and our global network.

“We continued to play our part in the fight against Covid-19, transporting PPE and testing kits around the world and in February we were appointed as an airline partner to UNICEF’s Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative, supporting the COVAX facility.

“Importantly, it was a quarter that saw us further diversify our revenue base with more routes, a broader product mix and charters taking us to more new destinations.”

IAG Cargo said it continued to operate charter services and scheduled cargo-only flights during the period.

In particular, the carrier's charter services supported demand and added airfreight capacity for the automotive and manufacturing sectors. Its charters also “proved to be a popular solution” for its e-commerce customers as consumers continued to favour online shopping.

Additionally, in March, the carrier's ‘Critical’ service for urgent and emergency shipments, experienced its strongest month with its highest ever booking volumes as demand increased for high-priority shipments.

“There was real variety in these critical shipments with movements including ophthalmic instruments, aircraft parts and a generator from Sweden to Jamaica following multiple power outages on the island,” the carrier said.

IAG Cargo also continued to add widebody capacity in the first quarter on its routes that feed into its main hubs — Heathrow, Madrid and Dublin.

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