Aer Lingus passenger numbers rise

Passenger numbers at Aer Lingus increased by 13 per cent last month, compared to December 2010, according to traffic statistic published this morning.

However, the sharp increase reflects a particularly poor December 2010, when weather conditions led to customers holding multiple bookings, thus affecting the passenger numbers.

Aer Lingus described the 13 per cent year-on-year increase as "a continuation of the positive trend in Aer Lingus' recent results."

The airline's booked load factor - the percentage of seats filled on a flight - decreased by 6.2 points to 68.4 per cent. Short haul booked load factor was 67.7 per cent, down 5.5 points on December 2010, though capacity was 22.8 per cent higher than December 2010.

Long haul booked load factor was 69.5 per cent, a decrease of 7.1 points on December 2010, with capacity increasing by 5.6 per cent.

Last week, Ryanair announced that Ryanair's traffic fell by 5 per cent from five million passengers in December 2010 to 4.8 million passengers in December 2011. The company's load factor was down a point to 79pc during the same period.

Commenting on the update, NCB stockbrokers said that the main issues for Aer Lingus remain the pension issue and the sale of the government's stake. "On the former we still have not heard anything, but expect some concrete proposals by the end of quarter one 2012," NCB said in a note this morning.

"It is only when we get clarity on these issues that the stock can start to make its way to its fundamental value of €1.00," said NCB's Brian Devine. "We expect a lot more information by the end of quarter one 2012."