Aer Lingus traffic falls in February

Passenger traffic at Aer Lingus and its regional partnership fell by 1.5 per cent in February, with the airline carrying 648,000 passengers during the month.

Both short and long haul passengers decreased on the company’s mainline services, but load factor across both business segments rose slightly, the airline said.

The company also noted that the period under review was 28 days in 2013, compared with 29 last year.

In total, 532,000 passengers flew on Aer Lingus’s short haul services, a 3.9 per cent decrease on the prior year, and capacity was down 9;.7 per cent. Load factor increased by 1.5 points.

Some 43,000 long haul passengers flew with the airline during the month, a fall of 4.4 per cent year on year, with capacity down 3.5 per cent. Long haul load factor rose by 0.1 per cent.

That brought the mainline services to a total of 599,000 passengers for the month, 4.4 per cent lower than in 2012. So far in 2013, the airline is trailing by 1.3 per cent year on year, with figures lifted by a 4.3 per cent rise in long haul passengers.

Its regional venture saw passenger numbers rise by 27 per cent last month, reaching 73,000. In the year to date, 138,000 passengers have flown with Aer Lingus Regional, a rise of more than 24 per cent on 2012.

The airline recently shook off a takeover bid by shareholder and rival Ryanair, after the European Commission blocked yet another attempt by the no-frills airline to buy Aer Lingus.