• Group traffic in December, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres, increased by 6.1 per cent versus December 2016; Group capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres rose by 4.0 per cent.

• Group premium traffic for the month of December increased by 3.9 per cent compared to the previous year.
  4 January 2018

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS
On 8 December, British Airways launched a flexible benefits scheme incorporating a new defined contribution pension scheme, following consultation with its trade unions and employees. The scheme will open on April 1 2018 and will replace the main UK defined benefit scheme, the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS), and the main UK defined contribution scheme, the British Airways Retirement Plan (BARP). The changes are subject to NAPS trustees agreeing to amend the scheme’s rules to enable closure to future accrual.

On December 29, IAG announced that it is to buy assets of the Austrian airline NIKI, which was formerly part of the Air Berlin group, for €20 million and provide liquidity to NIKI of up to €16.5 million. The transaction, which is being made by a newly formed subsidiary of Vueling that will be incorporated as an Austrian company and run initially as a separate operation, is subject to customary closing conditions such as the EC competition approval. The assets include up to 15 A320 family aircraft and an attractive slot portfolio at various airports including Vienna, Dusseldorf, Munich, Palma and Zurich.