IAG’s €1 Billion Loyalty Ambition Depends More on Banks Than Airlines

A billion euros is a steep ask of any subsidiary, but the business behind the Avios loyalty currency and British Airways Holidays thinks it can get there. 

IAG Loyalty (IAGL) generated more than half a billion pounds in operating profit last year — a margin north of 18%. Loyalty accounts for close to 12% of IAG’s operating profit, up from 9% in 2019; notable numbers for a group that owns giant airlines like British Airways and Iberia.

Management wants to lift operating profit to more than €1 billion in the medium term. IAG Loyalty CEO Adam Daniels and financial chief Darryl Cartmell set out how at a briefing attended by Skift.

The growth plan, first presented at an investor day earlier this month, does not rest on one thing. Cartmell laid out four key areas. The first is a market tailwind — more IAG flying means more people in the ecosystem, while the UK credit card market has grown more than 5% a year as customers migrate from debit to cred