The owner of British Airways, International Airlines Group (IAG), is set to announce a record-breaking sales year, despite worries about the UK’s recent recession affecting holiday bookings.

IAG, which also owns Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus, will reveal its 2023 financial results on Thursday. The company is predicted to report nearly 30 billion euros (£25 billion) in sales, a record for the group and over a quarter more than the previous year.

This follows a record profit period for IAG between July and September last year, thanks to a surge in holiday travel. The firm noted high demand for flights on its North and South Atlantic routes and popular European holiday spots.

Analysts predict an underlying operating profit for the full year of around 3.5 billion euros (£3 billion), surpassing its previous peak in 2018.

Despite labour disputes and geopolitical uncertainty, AJ Bell analysts believe these impressive profits are achievable, even with the UK’s slow slide into recession, which can impact airline travel.

Official numbers reveal that the UK has entered a technical recession at the year’s end, which means two straight quarters of negative economic growth.

However, big travel companies like Jet2 and Tui have observed that people are still prioritising their well-deserved holidays abroad, even though the cost-of-living crisis is squeezing their incomes.

Investors might be hoping for similar reassurances from IAG, especially that their bookings are staying strong against cheaper competitors such as easyJet, Ryanair, and Wizz Air.

AJ Bell’s experts also highlighted that rising oil prices and staff costs could be potential worries, along with airlines increasing the number of seats on their flights, leading to more competition on popular routes.