IAG Cargo today announced its Q3 results from July 1 to September 30, 2015, reporting commercial revenue of €238m versus €236m for the same period last year.

In the third quarter, market conditions have remained challenging. This has placed pressure on yields, which decreased 4.5 per cent at constant exchange rates, with volumes also finishing 4.7 per cent down on the prior year.

Steve Gunning, CEO at IAG Cargo commented: “We have made the point in the past that the air cargo market has established a ‘new normal’, with excess capacity and reduced demand leading to significant price and yield pressures. In Q1, the West Coast port strike in the US gave the air cargo market some respite from this new normal, but the past two quarters have seen a return to more challenging conditions.

“In light of this, our strategy and operational model is more relevant than ever; with a strong focus on cost control, premium products and smart partnerships critical to our success. We have made good progress over the quarter against all these strategic goals, and our decision to remove our wet-lease freighter capacity from our fleet and focus on a partnership model has proved justified. We have also seen our premium product strategy succeed, with particularly strong growth for our important Constant Climate product. Premium products as a whole now represent more of our business than ever, with record revenue and tonnage figures.

Reported results include Aer Lingus consolidated from August 18, 2015