IAG traffic and load factor up in December

(ShareCast News) - British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group reported a rise in traffic and the load factor in December.The airline said group traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometres rose 3.9% last month compared to the same month last year, while the load factor - which gauges how full the flights are - increased to 79.2% from 78.6%.Group premium traffic across the company was up 8.4% on the year, with traffic at British Airways up 1.9%, at Aer Lingus up 12%% and at Iberia up 3.9%.IAG's airlines carried more than 100m passengers in 2016.Back in December, IAG announced that it plans to set up a next generation longhaul operation in Barcelona from June 2017 using two A330 aircraft. Destinations being considered include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Havana and Tokyo. Options for the new operation include setting up a new airline or consider using existing resources from IAG's airlines.At 1555 GMT, the shares were down 0.3% to 465.41p.