Aer Lingus has reported operating profits of €282m for the year to the end of December, a jump of €77m (37.5%) from 2024, despite additional competition in the transatlantic market.
The airline, which is owned by IAG, said its revenues for the year rose by €153m to €2.529 billion, with passenger revenues up €150m to €2.454 billion.
"Last year was our highest profit since 2018, it was also our best operational performance since 2016, our highest net promoter score for customers," said Aer Lingus CEO Lynne Embleton.
"So it's a very satisfying year - but we're certainly not complacent," she said.
Aer Lingus carried a total of 11.339 million passengers last year, up 2.9% on the 11,018 it carried in 2024. However its load factor - how many seats it fills on each flight - for the year dipped to 79.4% from 80.5%.
Aer Lingus said its fourth quarter profits dipped, as it noted an "increase in transatlantic competitor capacity" during the period.
"We've got 45% more competitor seats this winter. We've had 40% over the last two summers," said Ms Embleton. "So a highly, highly competitive market."
Aer Lingus has focused heavily on growing its transatlantic service, with services to Indianapolis and Nashville added last year, and flights to Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham forming part of its 2026 summer schedule.
Overall Aer Lingus grew its capacity by 6.6% last year, while the rate of growth in its transatlantic service was 7.4% last year.
Despite that, its parent company IAG recorded a slight dip in North Atlantic passengers in 2025 - reflecting anecdotal reports of Europeans' hesitance to visit the US at the moment.
However Ms Embleton said that was not showing up in the demand it was seeing.
"What we're seeing is actually very strong business travel across the Atlantic and that's great news for the economy overall, it's a good indicator," she said. "We're seeing economy travel holding up well and when I look at our own numbers, what we do see is that dynamics and the impact of the capacity that's come into the market."
One major issue that remains on the horizon for Aer Lingus is the Dublin Airport passenger cap.
It is currently suspended pending a ruling by the European Court of Justice, which is expected in the coming months.
However earlier this month the Court's Advocate General said the cap "may be taken into account" by the Irish Aviation Authority when it is allocating take-off and landing slots.
While the Government is currently progressing legislation to remove the cap, it is not yet clear when that will be passed into law, creating the potential that the cap will be reinstated for a time.
Ms Embleton said the concern for Aer Lingus was that it remained in place when the IAA allocates slots for 2027, which would force a sharp reduction in capacity at the airport next year.
"It's really, really important that this cap is gone by October and we appreciate that the Government has announced its intention to put the legislation through, but my concern is it won't happen early enough," she said.
"And October really matters because it's October this year when the IAA declare capacity and slots for the airport for summer 27. That's really when the danger zone is. So we really need this resolved by October," she said.
Ms Embleton recently wrote to the Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien to seek a meeting on the issue.
She said that was now arranged for "the coming weeks", after the minister had completed his St Patricks' Day engagements.
"We'll certainly be emphasising the time urgency of it [at that meeting]," she said.
In its results Aer Lingus also noted that it took delivery of five new Airbus planes last year, with a sixth arriving last month.
This, it said, was helping it to grow its network while also reducing average passenger emissions.
