A Spanish parent with UK operational headquarters
International Airlines Group, known as IAG, is the trading name of International Consolidated Airlines Group, S.A. The parent is a Spanish company incorporated on 17 December 2009, with its registered office at La Muñoza, Madrid. Its operational headquarters are at Waterside, Harmondsworth, near Heathrow in the United Kingdom. It is listed in London and on the Spanish stock exchanges. This profile covers the consolidated group, rather than Iberia or British Airways alone. Legal domicile, management location and each airline’s nationality are distinct concepts.
Sources: 2025 annual report: accounts, group and indicators · IAG registered office and operational headquarters
How the group took shape
British Airways and Iberia completed the transaction that made them IAG’s first two airlines on 21 January 2011. Vueling was acquired in April 2013 and Aer Lingus in August 2015. The current group also includes LEVEL and complementary businesses such as IAG Cargo and IAG Loyalty. The structure combines brands with their own identities and markets with shared functions. Commercial partnerships with American Airlines, Finnair or Qatar Airways extend connectivity but do not make those airlines consolidated IAG subsidiaries.
Sources: 2025 annual report: accounts, group and indicators · Group airlines and businesses
Listed ownership and Qatar Airways’ investment
Following the founding combination of British Airways and Iberia, ownership rests with shareholders of the listed parent. Qatar Airways announced its acquisition of 9.99% of IAG on 30 January 2015. The 2025 annual report’s ownership table records a notified 24.995% interest for Qatar Airways, alongside positions held by Capital Research and Management and BlackRock.
Sources: Qatar Airways: initial IAG investment in 2015 · 2025 annual report: accounts, group and indicators, p. 109.
These are notified holdings and rights, subject to the report’s dates and qualifications, rather than an ownership snapshot at November 2026. Capital Research’s position includes voting rights belonging to EuroPacific Growth Fund and must not be added again. The related-party note identifies Qatar Airways as a shareholder able to participate in financial and operating policy decisions, without control over those policies; this does not make IAG a wholly owned Qatar Airways subsidiary.
Sources: 2025 annual report: accounts, group and indicators, pp. 109, 226.
Transport, cargo, loyalty and reporting boundary
The business earns revenue from passenger transport, cargo and complementary services. IAG Cargo markets cargo capacity and IAG Loyalty develops the Avios ecosystem; maintenance also serves third parties. Consolidated 2025 revenue of EUR 33,213 million already includes the relevant businesses and eliminates internal transactions. Airline sales must not be added again. The 20% interest in Air Europa Holdings was classified at year-end 2025 as another equity investment; it does not mean that 100% of Air Europa’s revenue or employees are consolidated into IAG.
Full-year 2025 figures
The 2025 accounts cover the year ended 31 December and follow IFRS as endorsed by the European Union. Revenue was EUR 33,213 million, versus EUR 32,100 million in 2024: EUR 28,969 million from passengers, EUR 1,238 million from cargo and EUR 3,006 million from other revenue. Reported operating profit was EUR 5,024 million and profit attributable to the parent’s shareholders was EUR 3,342 million, versus EUR 2,732 million a year earlier. Accounting results remain distinct from alternative performance measures also used by the company.
Leadership and operating responsibilities
As checked on 8 November 2026, Javier Ferrán is board chairman and Luis Gallego is chief executive. Safety and security responsibilities remain with each airline, with monitoring by the group’s Audit and Compliance Committee and the operating companies’ safety bodies. A common parent supports coordination but does not remove local responsibilities or make flight safety a measure of occupational safety. The latter requires examining workers’ exposures, injuries, illnesses and controls.
Sources: Current board of directors · Current management committee · 2025 annual report: accounts, group and indicators
Workforce: headcount versus averages
IAG ended 2025 with 75,786 employees, versus 74,378 in 2024. Average annual headcount was 75,871; neither figure should be labelled full-time equivalents. Year-end employees include 25,225 cabin crew, 9,107 pilots, 16,501 airport workers and 7,809 maintenance staff, alongside corporate and leadership roles. Tasks require different controls for manual handling, work at height, noise and substance exposure, shifts and operating demands. Role-level information makes indicators more informative than a corporate average alone.
Sources: 2025 annual report: accounts, group and indicators · Iberia: 2025 sustainability report
Innovation through clearly scoped trials
IAG Transform coordinates transformation and technology partnerships. IAGi Accelerator works with start-ups on twelve-week proofs of value alongside group airlines and businesses. Its stated areas include automation, artificial intelligence, mixed reality and emission-reduction solutions. The 2025 report also describes an internal AI Academy. These are testing and training mechanisms, not evidence of OHS improvement by themselves. Assessing a preventive application requires the implementation site, changed task, controls and before-and-after outcomes within a comparable boundary.
Sources: IAG innovation programmes · 2025 annual report: accounts, group and indicators
Management systems and participation
IAG reports that 100% of employees are covered by health and safety management systems. Each operator has policies, accountable bodies and processes for reporting, investigation, trend analysis and remediation. Senior committees oversee risks and controls alongside assessments, worker engagement and mandatory training. This stated coverage is not universal ISO 45001 certification or proof that every control works effectively. It also does not extend own-workforce statistics to every supplier employee working at an airport.
Iberia: prevention and exposure-based surveillance
Iberia’s 2025 report describes the fourth revision of its Prevention Plan, dated 30 September, an in-house service and six joint committees, including an inter-site committee. For ground staff, health surveillance covers fifteen specific protocols across twenty-three workplaces, including noise, vibration, handling, height, shifts and exposure to various substances. Flight personnel have surveillance integrated with aeromedical examinations. These are documented Iberia arrangements, not a uniform description of every IAG subsidiary. Medical examination coverage alone does not establish that exposure is controlled.
Sources: Iberia: 2025 sustainability report
British Airways: dedicated crew support
British Airways describes Crewcare and the Pilot Assistance Network as round-the-clock support services for cabin and flight crew, with counsellors who are also crew members. In 2025, Crewcare received more than 1,800 calls and in-person visits; this is not presented as unique individuals. The airline also reports 4,484 employees supported by its assistance programmes and an in-house occupational health service. These resources can support care and referral. Usage does not prove lower psychosocial risk or replace intervention in organisational conditions that may cause harm.
Sources: British Airways: wellbeing and occupational health in 2025
Accidents and lost-time injuries in 2025
IAG reports 8,489 accidents in 2025, a rate of 75 per million hours. Of these, 2,466 resulted in lost working time, versus 2,113 in 2024. Lost-time injury frequency was 4.4 per 200,000 hours, versus 4.0. Airport operations recorded 999 cases and a frequency of 7.5; cabin crew recorded 984 and 6.2; maintenance recorded 144 and 2.3. The two bases—one million and two hundred thousand hours—and the two numerators—total accidents and lost-time injuries—must remain distinct.
Severity, fatalities and the company’s explanation
LTI severity fell from 20.1 to 15.9, but IAG defines this as working days lost per lost-time injury, not the rate per thousand hours used in other systems. The company attributes higher frequency to improved reporting; the published evidence does not isolate that effect causally. One fatality was recorded in 2025 following a road accident while commuting home in Spain, where the applied framework includes commuting accidents. There were also 23 reported occupational illnesses. These figures belong to the stated boundary and definitions, not the entire airport community.
Absolute emissions versus targets
In 2025, IAG reported 27.548 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in gross Scope 1 emissions, versus 27.248 million in 2024. Scope 2 was 16,500 tonnes market-based and 52,400 tonnes location-based; Scope 3 was 11.511 million tonnes. Lower intensity or a net figure after adjustments does not mean lower absolute gross emissions. Fuels with lower lifecycle impact, fleet renewal and future carbon removals form part of a transition whose 2050 net-zero objective remains a target.
A case of inadequate maintenance safeguards
In January 2023, HSE published a GBP 230,000 fine against British Airways Maintenance Cardiff Ltd over a November 2019 accident. A worker fell through a gap in platform guarding while inspecting wings. The regulator identified inadequate assessment and failure to avoid removing or to replace barriers; the company pleaded guilty. This concerns a specific entity and event, without automatically transferring responsibility to every subsidiary. It illustrates why a safety policy requires physical verification of safeguards, especially when equipment is temporarily modified.
Sources: HSE: British Airways Maintenance Cardiff prosecution
What can be learned from IAG
The case illustrates how group coordination and local control of work must fit together. Useful analysis compares tasks within consistent boundaries, separates flight safety from occupational health, and checks that lower severity does not obscure more injuries. Medical surveillance, psychological support and training need verifiable changes in equipment and work organisation. This editorial assessment uses public documents and identifies the subsidiaries behind examples. It is not an audit of every site, an airline safety ranking or a claim of a commercial relationship with Sabentis.
Sources: 2025 annual report: accounts, group and indicators · Iberia: 2025 sustainability report · British Airways: wellbeing and occupational health in 2025 · HSE: British Airways Maintenance Cardiff prosecution
Frequently asked questions
Is IAG Spanish or British?
The legal parent is Spanish, with its registered office in Madrid. Operational headquarters are at Waterside, Harmondsworth, United Kingdom. Its airlines retain their own legal entities and operational responsibilities. [1] · [2]
Should Iberia and British Airways revenue be added to IAG’s?
No. The EUR 33,213 million for 2025 is consolidated revenue covering the group after internal eliminations. Adding subsidiary sales again would double count activity. [1]
What does an LTI frequency of 4.4 mean?
It means lost-time injuries per 200,000 hours in 2025. It differs from the all-accident rate of 75 per million hours and is not a percentage of employees. [1]
Does management-system coverage prove group-wide ISO certification?
No. IAG reports management-system coverage for 100% of employees. That statement does not establish ISO 45001 certification of every entity or extend the results to all external airport workers. [1]
