Aer Lingus passenger numbers down 25%
Friday, 6 November 2009 19:52
Aer Lingus has said that passenger numbers on its long-haul flights have fallen by more than 25% since this time last year.
The airline said its overall passenger numbers during last month were just 0.2% below those for the same month last year.
Total passenger numbers in October 2009 were 902,000, a decrease of 0.2% compared to October 2008.
There were 821,000 short-haul passengers, a 3.3% increase on October 2008.
However, long-haul passengers numbered 81,000, which was a 25.7% decrease on October 2008.
The overall load factor, or percentage of seats filled, was 74.6% in October, up 1.3 points from the same month last year.
The load factor on shorter routes was little changed at 77%, while the figure for long-haul routes rose 1.3 points to 70.1%.
During the year, Aer Lingus increased its capacity on short-haul routes by 6%, but cut routes and flights on its longer routes by more than 30%.
In another statement this morning, British Airways posted a loss before tax of £292m (€325m) for the six months to the end of September.
This compares with a profit of £52m (€58m) in the same period last year and includes the airline's first April-to-June loss since privatisation.
