Aer Lingus operating profit takes off

Aer Lingus expects 2014 profits to top the €61.1 million surplus generated by its operations last year following a third- quarter performance the airline described as the best since the financial crisis.

The airline yesterday reported that operating profit in the three months ended September 30th grew 19 per cent to €112.9 million from €94.9 million during the same period last year.

Chief executive Christoph Mueller was upbeat on the performance: "Assuming the current trading environment is maintained, management now expect that Aer Lingus full- year operating profit, before exceptional items, will be ahead of the 2013 operating result, that is, €61.1 million."

Successor

Mr Mueller looks likely to leave the airline during the first quarter of next year. He originally signalled he would leave in May but it is understood a successor could be ready earlier.

The airline's board held a number of interviews lately but the process is ongoing. Industry sources see Aer Lingus's chief strategy officer, Stephen Kavanagh, as the strongest internal candidate.

Aer Lingus also announced it would launch a four-times- weekly service between Dublin and Washington next May as part of its summer schedule.

The company yesterday unveiled its plans for 2015’s peak season. They include increasing weekly long-haul capacity by 18.4 per cent during the summer. It will fly once a day to San Francisco, up from five times a week, and introduce a third daily flight from Dublin to New York.

It will also increase frequency on its service from Dublin to Orlando in Florida, and plans to expand the number of seats on its Shannon-Boston service by 20 per cent.

Long-haul revenue

Its transatlantic business delivered a strong performance during the third quarter. Long- haul revenue rose 34 per cent to €175.9 million from €131.3 million a year earlier, while passenger numbers increased almost 24 per cent to 427,000. The airline sold more than 92 per cent of the seats on those services, while average revenue for each passenger was up 8 per cent at €411.46.

Mr Mueller said yesterday the growth in Aer Lingus’s long-haul business had over the past three years matched that in the previous 12.

“We intend to grow it again next year. We are the cost leader on the north Atlantic, some people say we are the only low- cost carrier there, we are 30 to 40 per cent cheaper than the next competitor.”

Overall passenger numbers rose 4.8 per cent to 3.05 million. Short-haul travellers were up 2.2 per cent at 2.625 million.