Aer Lingus January passenger numbers fall

A slowdown in Aer Lingus passengers on its long-haul routes to the United States contributed to a fall of more than 6 per cent in passenger traffic last month.

Aer Lingus said it carried 661,000 passengers in January, down 6.4 per cent when compared with the same month in 2008.

Passenger numbers on short-haul flights were 6.1 per cent lower while those travelling to long-haul destinations fell 8.6 per cent over the period.

The load factor last month, a measure of the proportion of seats filled, on short-haul flights was 64.6 per cent which the airline says was 1.5 per cent lower when compared to January 2008.

Capacity on these routes increased 1.3 per cent over the period, Aer Lingus said.

On long-haul flights the load factor dropped to 63.8 per cent, up 2.4 per cent compared with January 2008 following a 15 per cent decrease in capacity.

The revenue per passenger dropped 1 per cent on short-haul flights and by 11.7 per cent on long haul flights.