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LONDON (Alliance News) - International Consolidated Airlines Group Friday said premium traffic rose in April and said its Spanish carrier Iberia plans to launch its first service to Asia within the next couple of months.
IAG - which owns British Airways, Ireland's Aer Lingus, and Spanish carriers Iberia and Vueling - said revenue passenger kilometres rose 11% year-on-year in April, whilst the group's capacity measured in available seat kilometres also increased by 11% during the month.
On a pro-forma basis, revenue passenger kilometres was up 2.8% from the previous year whilst the available seat kilometres was up 2.6%.
In addition, premium traffic in April was 4.4% higher than in April 2015, on a pro-forma basis.
IAG said Iberia has recently said it will begin to offer services from Madrid to Shanghai in China from June 28. IAG said it will be Iberia's first destination in Asia, which will be followed by services to Tokyo starting on October 18.
Iberia will offer three flights a week to Shanghai using its A330-200 fleet.
IAG shares were trading up 0.2% to 512.67 pence per share on Friday afternoon.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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