#BA owner IAG reports first profit since pandemic began

#British Airways owner IAG has swung back to profit for the first time since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, despite facing a "challenging" environment at Heathrow Airport.

The company said it had seen a significant increase in the number of flights and passengers it handled.

Operating profit for the second quarter hit £245m, compared with a loss of £809m in the same period last year.

But IAG also issued a warning about the state of the industry.

Airlines and airports have faced significant disruption this year due to widespread worker shortages and industrial action.

"Our industry continues to face historic challenges due to the unprecedented scaling up in operations, especially in the UK where the operational challenges of Heathrow airport have been acute," said Luis Gallego, IAG's chief executive.

• Heathrow hits back at 'bizarre' Ryanair criticism
• Heathrow tells airlines not to sell summer tickets
• British Airways to cancel 10,300 more flights

The company - which also owns Iberia and Aer Lingus - said that these issues at Heathrow had forced British Airways to limit its capacity to 69.1% of pre-pandemic levels between April and June.

"We will continue working with the industry to address these issues as aviation emerges from its biggest crisis ever," Mr Gallego said.

Between July and October, British Airways will ramp up its capacity to about 75%, IAG said.

It was the company's Iberia and Vueling brands that performed most strongly over the past three months, elevated by a robust demand for domestic flights within Spain, and routes to Latin America.

Last month, both were at higher levels than they were in 2019.

Mr Gallego said he hoped the airline would return to annual profitability this year, with demand showing no sign of weakening.

"In the second quarter we returned to profit for the first time since the start of the pandemic following a strong recovery in demand across all our airlines," he said. "This result supports our outlook for a full year operating profit."

"Our performance reflected a significant increase in capacity, load factor and yield compared to the first quarter."

'Bizarre'

British Airways has been forced to cancel nearly 30,000 flights this summer as it struggles with staff shortages and rebounding demand for air travel following the lifting of Covid restrictions.

This has been compounded by a lack of ground handling crew and ticketing agents at airports, many of whom were laid off during the pandemic and have not yet been replaced.

A row broke out this week between Ryanair and Heathrow Airport, with the airline saying airports had not recruited enough staff to cater for the rebound in travellers, saying they "had one job to do to"

But Heathrow hit back at the criticism, labelling it as "bizarre".

"Airports don't provide ground handling, that's provided by the airlines themselves. So this is like accusing us of not having enough pilots," said the airport's chief executive John Holland-Kaye.

#Actress Regina Daniels reacts as her brother publicly claims she did surgery on her body

#Popular Nollywood actress, Regina Daniels, has reacted after her brother, Sammy, asserted that she underwent surgery to enhance her physical features.

The billionaire wife, who recently welcomed her second child with her husband, Ned Nwoko, shared photos of herself rocking a pink two-piece and she looked absolutely stunning.

Sharing the photos with her over 12 millionInstagram followers, she captioned it, “I have seen beauty before but this is a ”.

Reacting to the photos, Regina’s brother, Sammy, suggested that she went under the knife to enhance her physical features.

“So you finally did your body.” He wrote.

On seeing Sammy’s comment, Regina replied, debunking his claim that she underwent surgery and declared that her curves are natural.

“You don’t want to accept it’s natural because of jealousy.” She wrote.

See their exchange below,

Meanwhile, Nollywood actress, Nkechi Blessing, has shared her opinion about why women go under the knife to improve their physical features.

#Dear death, I am ready” – Young Nigerian lady leaves disturbing note on Facebook

#A young Nigerian lady has left her family and followers worried about her well-being after she left a disturbing post on Facebook.

The young lady from Bayelsa identified as Benefit Ogiri on Tuesday morning, July 26, 2022, shared a post about being ready for death.

“Dear death, I AM READY.” She wrote.

A family member, Rejoice Ogiri said her phone numbers have been unreachable since she left the note.other news, a 23-year-old final year medical student, Lebo Mandy Makola, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Admiral Rakgwana Mampuru, after she tried to end their relationship, has been laid to rest.

It was gathered that the 23-year-old was allegedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend, Admiral Rakgwana Mampuru, on July 11, 2022.

Confirming the incident, police spokesperson, Motlafela Mojapelo said Mandy Makola’s body was found in an abandoned car, with multiple stab wounds, outside Lebowakgomo.

Police suspect that she was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, who was also found dead the next day, of an apparent suicide. Makola’s boyfriend committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree at Mashite Cross in Ga Mphahlele on July 12.

It is alleged that Makola wanted to end the relationship, and her attempts led to the killing.

Her body was discovered by a herdsman, who alerted the police. The police searched the area and later found the boyfriend’s body hanging from a tree.

#Popular TikToker infleuncer, Mimi dies; friends claim she was used for ritual by her ‘new boyfriend’ (Video)

# A popular TikTok sensation simply identified as Mimi, has died under strange circumstances as some of her friends claim she was used for ritual by her boyfriend.

It’s reported that the TikTok star died on Monday, July 18. Sources say that Mimi got suddenly ill and was rushed to the hospital.’s also alleged strongly by her friends, that the deceased’s boyfriend might have attempted to use her for money rituals.

A source revealed to InstaBlog9ja,

“Mimi’s death is a huge shock to us as she recently fell ill and was expected to recuperate in a few days.

She was rushed to the hospital by her boyfriend and we got hold of information about his plan to use her for money rituals. So, we launched an SOS on WhatsApp for people to help but before they could get to the hospital, Mimi had passed on.

At the hospital, Mimi’s boyfriend was nowhere to be found and they had to take her corpse to her village. However, we don’t even know the name of Mimi’s boyfriend as she kept him a secret almost every time we asked her about him,” a source alleged.

#Fans gift liquorose 400k and an all-expense paid trip to any country to mark her 1st BB NAIJA anniversary

#Fans of Big Brother Naija star, Roseline Afijepopularly known as Liquorose, has gifted her a whooping sum of N400k and an all-expense paid trip to any country of her choice to mark her first BBNaija anniversary.

#July 25 made it exactly one year since she was introduced on the sixth edition of the reality TV show and her staunch fans decided to celebrate the milestone this year.In last night’s episode of the reunion show, the pair, whose relationship turned sour months after they left the Big Brother house, revealed what led to their split.

Giving a detailed account of what transpired, Liquorose said she had gone to Emmanuel’s room with the intention of surprising him with food as they were chatting on her way to the room. However, on getting to the door, she kept knocking with no response. She said that after over 15 minutes of waiting, she called Emmanuel to tell him she was at the door. He requested that they meet in her room later.

Liquorose noted that she insisted it was an emergency, so Emmanuel came to open the door and she walked in and met a masked lady in the room.

“We were dating, right? And I walked into you and a girl in Dubai. The light was off, the music was playing, the bed was rough, and the girl was sitting at the edge, and she covered her face with a face mask”. She said in part.

Emmanuel, in his defense, claimed that the woman was a friend who had come to see him. Watch here

#Groom dumps bride at wedding venue after his mum saw her and decided that she is too ugly

#Groom dumped his bride in the middle of their wedding ceremony after his mother saw her for the first time during the ceremony and decided she is "too ugly".

 

The groom - who has not been named in local media - was reportedly ordered to dump his Tunisian bride after his mum decided she was too short and unattractive.

 

It is understood that until the ceremony, the groom's mother had only seen photographs of his bride-to-be.Photos from the start of the service show bride Lamia Al-Labawi smiling in her wedding dress as she posed beside her groom-to-be who was mopping his brow with a handkerchief.

 Later, Lamia poured out her heart on social media.

 

Lamia wrote on her blog that she is an "orphan" and preparations for the wedding had cost her a lot of money.

 

#Reality star Ifu Ennada showcases her bikini body in new photos

#Reality star, Ifu Ennada took to Instagram to share these sexy photos of herself posing in a two piece bikini which showcased her backside.

 

See full photos below.