Aer Lingus reports 11.8% jump in long haul traffic

Aer Lingus has reported a fall off in passenger numbers for December.

The airline said total flown passenger numbers, including those on its regional operations, fell to 733,000 last month compared with 734,000 during December 2012.

Short haul flown passengers, including Aer Lingus Regional, decreased to 648,000 last month - a decline of 1.5 per cent compared with December 2012.

Long haul flown passengers increased 11.8 per cent to 85,000, compared with the same month a year previously.

The airline said its passenger load factor - how many seats it fills on each flight - increased by 3 points on to 73.9 per cent last month compared with a year previously.

The airline’s short-haul flown load factor was 68.3 per cent, a decrease of 1.7 points on December 2012, with capacity down by 5.1 per cent.

Long-haul flown load factor was 82 per cent, an increase of 4.3 points on December 2012, with capacity 4.9 per cent up on the previous year.