LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - British Airways-owner IAG
said it was unable to give profit guidance for 2020
because of the uncertainty linked to coronavirus which has
already knocked travel demand.
The airline group said that flight cancellations as a result
of the virus meant capacity growth for this year would be lower,
and it expected to cut flights on its short-haul European
network in the coming days.
For 2019, IAG reported a 5.7% drop in operating profit to
3.285 billion euros, slightly ahead of a downgraded forecast of
3.27 billion euros it gave in September when it said a pilots
strike would result in a 215 million euros hit.
Rattled by the coronavirus, airlines such as Germany's
Lufthansa and Amsterdam-based KLM have rushed to cut
costs in recent days.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton)