British Airways has called for an international treaty to track the whereabouts of surface-to-air missiles around the world in the wake of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Willie Walsh, the boss of BA's parent company IAG, said the airline had stopped flying over the conflict region in eastern Ukraine in early March, based on publicly available information.

However, Walsh said he would like to see the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) put pressure on the United Nations to organise a convention on surface-to-air missiles. "At a minimum it would help to have a complete inventory of all the weapons, clearly identify which government had responsibility for managing those weapons, and facilitate a system for tracking where all those missiles are – simple measures that would improve the data and monitoring of those weapons."

He also called for greater sharing of security information with airlines.

"One thing that clearly can be changed and could make a positive difference to airlines who have to undertake risk reviews would be greater and more transparent sharing of data and information with regard to security issues."

Walsh said no single development had affected BA's decision to avoid eastern Ukraine, and insisted there was no reason that its own risk assessment would have applied to OneWorld alliance partner Malaysia Airlines. "The operations, procedures and history of each airline are not the same." He pointed out that BA has continued to fly over Iraq but said he respected the decision of the Emirates airline to avoid that airspace.

Asked if sharing information with Malaysia Airlines would have made a difference, Walsh said: "We'd like to think it should. But it wouldn't have changed the fact that the aircraft was shot down by rogue elements. That aircraft was flying in airspace that was open, was clearly identifiable as a civilian aircraft, and should not have been shot down. "

But the IAG boss vehemently dismissed calls to deploy anti-missile technology for his aircraft. The chief executive of British arms company BAE Systems, Ian King, suggested this week that airlines should consider deploying the technology after MH17. Walsh said: "We've thought about military grade technology and rejected it. The idea that someone who is involved in developing weapons proposes that we use military countermeasures is ridiculous. If Ian King has any concerns, then withdraw from the arms industry and stop developing military equipment."

Walsh said decisions over airspace routes were based on safety, and that cost was not an issue. Libya and Syria are also no-fly zones for the airline group. An IAG spokesman said airline safety was under constant review by risk assessors. BA has continued to operate a daily flight to Kiev, which is hundreds of miles from the conflict region in the east of the country.

Asian airlines, including Korean Air, Asiana, as well as Australia's Qantas, also quit eastern Ukrainian airspace in early March because of safety concerns.

Walsh was speaking after IAG revealed that Iberia had swung back into profit three years after a merger with BA. Spain's embattled flag carrier made an operating profit of €16m (£12.6m) in the first six months of the year, compared with a €35m loss last year.

Iberia's return to profit boosted the bottom line for IAG , which reported a €230m operating profit, against a €33m loss for the period.

Walsh said IAG was making "solid progress" and would continue to cut capacity. He had previously warned that the Spanish airline, which was losing €1m a day, had to scale back if it was to survive. In 2013 he pushed through a controversial package of 3,300 redundancies and an 11% pay cut in the face of strike action from staff.

A further 1,427 jobs are expected to go after IAG and the unions struck a deal last week on another round of redundancies for pilots and ground staff.

The upbeat tone from IAG contrasted with Lufthansa, which on Thursday disappointed investors with lower-than-expected profits.

Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline, said it was unhappy with its results, as it announced a profit of €359m for the second quarter, well below expectations. The airline has been forced to reduce ticket prices as it struggles to compete with Gulf carriers over long-haul routes.