THE owner of British Airways has cut losses for the first three months of the year as the group benefits from the restructuring of Spanish carrier Iberia.

International Airlines Group (IAG), which was formed from the merger of the two airlines in 2011, posted operating losses of £122.6m.

British Airway's loss during the industry's seasonally quiet first quarter was (£4m, while Iberia almost halved its losses from last year with a deficit of £90.7m.

One factor in British Airway's improvement has been the cost benefit achieved from the performance of its new Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 aircraft.

The airline said Iberia's restructuring remains a work in progress but pointed out the figures don't include the impact of recent pay and productivity agreements which took effect in April.

It is gradually resuming some routes, including long-haul services to Santo Domingo and Montevideo.

The group has about 430 aircraft in service and employs more than 60,000 people.

Iberia's restructuring programme has seen 2,500 staff leave the airline under a voluntary redundancy programme, while salaries have been reduced.