Aer Lingus passengers rise 4.7%

The number of passengers travelling on Aer Lingus rose 4.7 per cent in November, but the long-haul sector continued to have a negative impact.

In total, 776,000 people travelled with the airline during the month, with short-haul routes recording a 9.1 per cent increase on the same month a year earlier with 704,000.

However, the airline carried fewer long-haul passengers during the month, falling 25 per cent to 72,000.

Load factor, which is the average number of seats filled on each flight, fell 1.3 points to 71 per cent, while capacity dropped 4.7 per cent overall. In short-haul, the load factor fell 0.8 points to 71 per cent, while capacity rose 12.3 per cent on the routes. Aer Lingus's long haul routes saw capacity fall 25.7 per cent during November, while load factor fell 1.8 per cent to 71.1 per cent.

To date, Aer Lingus has increased its overall passenger traffic by 2.6 per cent.

The company has threatened to cut routes and jobs to achieve €97 million from its cost base. Management at Aer Lingus has been negotiating with unions in recent weeks in a bid to wipe €74 million from staff costs.

It is seeking 676 voluntary redundancies, but the company indicated it may cut up to 1,000 jobs if it could not agree with unions, with compulsory redundancies and route closures a posible means of achieving the necessary savings.