Traffic to the US down by a third
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Aer Lingus carried 664,000 passengers during February, a 3.5pc drop on the same month in 2009, and its transatlantic traffic slumped nearly one-third to just 46,000 passengers.
Releasing the figures yesterday just hours before cabin crew members belonging to the union IMPACT rejected management plans for €74m in staff-related cuts, the further declines in passenger numbers provided more evidence of the harrowing environment the airline is enduring.
However, the slump in long-haul passenger numbers came as the airline slashed capacity on those routes by over 37pc since February 2009, while on short-haul routes capacity was up 12.7pc year-on-year.
Aer Lingus, which will release full-year financial figures on Tuesday, noted that the load factor, or the percentage of seats it filled, on short-haul routes fell by 6.7pc to 70.8pc in February compared to the same month in 2009.
- John Mulligan
Irish Independent
