London - International Airlines Group, owner of British Airways and Iberia, upgraded its annual guidance on Friday as growing passenger numbers and lower fuel costs led to strong third-quarter profits.
IAG, which bought Ireland's Aer Lingus in August, predicted full-year operating profit would range from €2.25bn and €2.3bn.
That compared with the previous profit guidance of €2.2bn.
IAG added in a results statement that net profits jumped 42% to €848m in the three months to the end of September.
Excluding Aer Lingus, it also posted a third-quarter operating profit of €1.21bn, beating analysts' forecasts of €1.19bn.
Revenues rebounded 15% to €6.756bn, boosted by a 17.7% jump in passenger numbers to 27.564 million people.