Aer Lingus cites good Irish weather as it lowers 2013 guidance

Aer Lingus has revised its outlook for the year downwards after good summer weather in Ireland saw potential holidaymakers opting to stay at home.

In a trading update, Aer Lingus said it expected its operating profit to be about €60 million before exceptional items this year, down from its earlier guidance of €69.1 million.

Shares in the Dublin-listed airline were down 7.6 per cent at 10.30am.

Aer Lingus said its short-haul booking profile had “somewhat eroded in July due to the exceptionally good weather conditions that were experienced”.

“The current booking profile for the rest of the year suggests that despite more aggressive pricing in response to market conditions, it will not be possible to recover lost volumes experienced in July and August as a result of the warm weather,” it said.

The airline said the intensely competitive pricing environment would continue to impact higher yielding short notice bookings and that it intended to reduce short haul capacity by a at least 3 per cent in the fourth quarter of this year.

Aer Lingus management was said to be examining ways to “accelerate existing plans to achieve further cost efficiencies” in order to preserve its competiveness and protect future profitability.

"However, measures such as employee exits under the current voluntary severance scheme have been slowed by delays in the resolution of funding issues in the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme."