Aer Lingus passenger numbers up
Aer Lingus flew 563,000 passengers in January, a 5.8pc year-on-year rise, according to new data provided by the carrier.
Short-haul passenger numbers rose 6.2pc to 514,000, while long-haul numbers were 2.1pc higher at 49,000.
Capacity on Aer Lingus short-haul routes was 4.6pc higher in January compared to the corresponding month last year, while long-haul capacity was 8pc higher.
Aer Lingus said its load factor, or percentage of available seats, was 62.5pc on its short-haul network last month, up 2pc. On long-haul services the load factor was 61.8pc, down 3.9pc.
The airline said that Aer Lingus Regional -- the service operated by Aer Arann -- carried 53,000 passengers last month, up 26.2pc on January 2011.
Joshua Goldman at Davy Stockbrokers noted that while Aer Lingus was continuing to see "healthy growth" in passenger numbers, capacity increases were still outpacing demand on its long-haul services, depressing the load factor.
Eamonn Hughes at Goodbody said it was "far too early" to take a read of the Aer Lingus numbers given it was just the beginning of the year.
- John Mulligan
Irish Independent
