Aer Lingus has reported a pre-tax loss of €14.2m for the first half of this year, compared with a €20.8m loss in the same period last year.
Operating losses were €27.8m, 46% higher than the €19m loss in the same period last year.
In a statement the airline's chief executive, Christoph Mueller, said that losses were higher than last year mainly because of the IMPACT cabin crew dispute at the start of the year.
The airline said there was a 'strong recovery' in the second quarter, when Aer Lingus made a pre-tax profit of €42.2m, almost treble the profit in Q2 of last year. This figure was helped by a comparison with the same period last year, when there was disruption from the Icelandic ash cloud.
Mr Muller said Aer Lingus was now more positive about the whole of 2011, due to strong bookings for the rest of the year. He said he expected the airline to make a profit for the year, though he added that the Irish market remained tough.
Revenue in the first half was up 5.8% to €569m in the first half, though passenger numbers fell by 1% to 4.36 million. Yields, or average fares, rose by 8.4%. Ancillary revenues fell 4%, mainly due to a lower volume of checked-in baggage.
Aer Lingus said its staff costs were reduced by almost 6% over the last 12 months. But total costs rose 7.2%, due to the costs of hiring crew and aircraft during the cabin crew dispute. Fuel costs were slightly lower, mainly due to a weaker US dollar.
Cargo revenue rose by 14.6% to €22m in the six months.
Aer Lingus sharse closed up 9.3% at 65 cents a shares today.
