Shares in Aer Lingus-owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) surged as much as 8 per cent in trading on Thursday after the group signalled better-than-expected preliminary results for its all-important summer period.

In a statement IAG said that passenger revenue strength had driven its performance in the three months to the end of September. “As a result we now expect pre-exceptional operating profit for the third quarter to be in the region of €1.2 billion.”

This figure, which is subject to revision when the Vueling and Iberia-owner publishes consolidated results for the first nine months of the year on October 28th, is “well above market expectations”, analysts from Davy Stockbrokers said in a note on Thursday.

“Forward bookings remain at expected levels for the time of year, with no indication of weakness, and accordingly our fourth quarter expectations remain unchanged as of today,” IAG said.