the United International Airlines group (LSE:IAG) The share price is flying right now. Over the past year, it has almost doubled.

Looking ahead, Citi analysts expect the stock to continue moving higher. Here's a look at the average stock price target for airline stocks.

Business momentum

The group, known as IAG, has great momentum at the moment. For example, in August, the company reported operating profits of €1.68 billion for the second quarter of 2025. That's up from €1.2 billion a year earlier, and miles ahead of the consensus forecast of €1.4 billion. In other words, the performance was much better than expected.

“We continue to benefit from the structural shift in consumer spending towards travel. We remain focused on our market-leading brands and core geographies, where we continue to see strong performance“, commented IAG CEO Luis Gallego at the time.

City analysts are optimistic

Given this business momentum, analysts expect the stock price to continue to rise. At present, the average price target among the 22 brokers covering the stock is £4.52.

This is approximately 13% higher than the current share price. Add to that the dividend, and investors could be looking at a 15% return over the next 12 months or so, if that share price target is achieved (it may not be, of course).

This is probably a better return than FTSE 100 index It will be delivered within the next year. The average return from the UK large-cap index over the past few decades – including dividends – has been around 6% to 7% per year.

Is the stock worth watching?

So is this a no-brainer investment? I'm not entirely sure – I see pros and cons of owning this stock.

On the positive side, people continue to spend heavily on travel despite the cost of living crisis. This trend could continue in the coming years as baby boomers retire and travel the world.

Another upside is that the stock is still cheap. It currently trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around seven. This compares to the P/E ratios of 10 for US airlines Delta Airlines And nine for the Australian airline Qantas.

On the downside, there are a lot of things that could go wrong for airlines. Examples include rising fuel prices, terrorist attacks, wars, supply chain issues, and higher than expected capital expenditures.

Another problem is that these companies are always spending money to keep their planes in the air (which translates into lower profits and can limit stock price gains). In the past, Warren Buffett used the term “bottomless pit” to describe the relentless demand for capital in the aviation industry.

Better opportunities in today's stock market?

When weighing everything, I personally believe there are better opportunities in the market right now. IAG shares could continue to rise in the near term, but from a five-year view, I think investors could see higher returns in other stocks.