As the world gradually emerges from the grip of the pandemic, the travel industry is witnessing a resurgence in demand with British Airways owner IAG SA gearing up for a busy summer season.

Despite lingering challenges, the airline conglomerate remains optimistic about the outlook, citing strong demand for travel within Europe and across the Atlantic.

In a recent stock exchange filing, IAG disclosed an adjusted operating profit of €68 million ($73.3 million) for the three months ending March.

According to Chief Executive Officer Luis Gallego, the group’s core markets, including the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and intra-Europe routes, have shown robust performance, positioning them well for the upcoming peak travel period.

With vaccination rates increasing and travel restrictions easing in many parts of the world, consumers are eager to resume travel plans, fueling the surge in demand.

However, the road ahead is not without its challenges. While travel within Europe and across the Atlantic remains strong, other regions present a more complex operating environment.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has dampened demand for certain destinations, while airspace restrictions resulting from geopolitical tensions, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have disrupted flight routes to East Asia.

Despite these hurdles, IAG remains resilient, banking on the strength of its core markets and the performance of its brands to weather the storm.

The company’s strategic positioning and proactive measures to adapt to changing circumstances have positioned it to capitalize on the rebound in travel demand.

As the summer season approaches, IAG is focused on ensuring operational readiness to meet the surge in passenger numbers.

With travelers eager to reconnect with loved ones, explore new destinations, and embark on long-awaited vacations, the airline group stands ready to facilitate safe and seamless travel experiences.

As vaccination campaigns progress and travel sentiment rebounds, IAG’s proactive approach and strategic investments position it as a key player in the aviation industry’s recovery journey. With optimism on the horizon, the company remains committed to delivering exceptional service and fostering a seamless travel experience for passengers worldwide.

Israeli troops took control of the Rafah border-crossing area in Gaza on Tuesday morning, with Hamas saying all aid flows from Egypt had stopped.

The army has halted “the movement of people and aid completely,” the Hamas-run crossing authority said in a statement. Soldiers replaced Palestinian flags with Israeli ones.

It’s the first time Israel’s army has moved into the area since the war with Hamas began in October.

Israeli Military Tells About 100,000 People to Leave Eastern Rafah

Palestinians sheltering in Rafah were told Monday to move to an “expanded humanitarian area”.

The border is the main entry point for aid into Gaza, and the Palestinian territory’s only crossing aside from those with Israel. The US has been urging Israel for weeks to allow more food and other supplies into Gaza, parts of which the United Nations says are on the verge of famine.

The movement of troops came a day after Israel told residents in parts of eastern Rafah to leave immediately ahead of a possible attack on the city.

Most Arab and many European states have said Israel should not attack Rafah, fearing it would cause mass casualties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Rafah is the last bastion of Hamas, with about 5,000 to 8,000 of its fighters and senior leaders lodged in the city, as well as many Israeli hostages.

Cease-fire talks between the two sides continue to drag. Hamas said on Monday night it had accepted a proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar. Israel rejected it, saying it contained demands the Jewish state cannot accept.

Israel called on civilians to evacuate parts of Rafah on Monday in what appeared to be preparation for a long-threatened assault on Hamas holdouts in the southern Gaza Strip city where more than a million war-displaced Palestinians have been sheltering.

Instructed by Arabic text messages, telephone calls, and flyers to move to what the Israeli military called an “expanded humanitarian zone” 20 km (7 miles) away, some Palestinian families lumbered out under chilly spring rain, witnesses said.

Israel’s military said it had begun encouraging residents of Rafah to evacuate in a “limited scope” operation. It gave no specific reasons, nor did it say if any offensive action might follow.

Seven months into its war against Hamas, Israel has been threatening to launch incursions in Rafah, which it says harbours thousands of Hamas fighters and potentially dozens of hostages. Victory is impossible without taking Rafah, it says.

The prospect of a high-casualty operation worries Western powers and neighbouring Egypt, which is trying to mediate a new round of truce talks between Israel and Hamas under which the Palestinian Islamist group might free some hostages.

The Rafah plan has opened an unusually public rift between Israel and Washington. Speaking to his U.S counterpart, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant linked Monday’s operation to the deadlock in indirect diplomacy, which he blamed on Hamas.

“During their discussion, Gallant discussed the efforts undertaken to achieve the release of hostages and indicated that at this stage, Hamas refuses the frameworks at hand,” the Israeli Defence Ministry said in a statement.

“Gallant emphasized that military action is required, including in the area of Rafah, at the lack of an alternative,” it added On Monday, the Israeli military called on Palestinians in eastern parts of Rafah to move to a nearby “humanitarian area”, saying it would “encourage … the gradual movement of civilians in the specified areas”.