€19.7m first-half profits at Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus has reported a pre-tax profit of €19.7 million for the first half of 2006, up from €15.5 million in the equivalent period of 2005.

In its last set of results before the IPO, the airline's commercial director Enda Corneille said its underlying performance was in line with 2005.

Total passenger revenue increased by 11 per cent to €451 million, compared with €407 million in the first half of 2005.

Long- and short-haul traffic turnover was up, but there was a fall of 4.3 per cent in the number of long-haul passengers. Mr Corneille said ancillary revenues were starting to have a major positive impact for the airline, up 41 per cent to €29.9 million.

Increased capacity on its Airbus short-haul fleet contributed to the overall rises in revenues and he also noted the 13 new short-haul routes opened in the first half of the year. Passenger load factors - the average number of passengers per plane - was at 76 per cent, almost the same as last year.

He said Dubai, its first longhaul route outside the US, was producing load factors of 65-70 per cent, and was likely to increase in the second half.

In long-haul services a strong performance was recorded by its premier business class service and on its Los Angeles route.

The airline will in future have to state results under the IFRS accounting rule and this would have shown a pre-tax profit of €5.3 million in the year under review.

The results were released shortly before the prospectus was approved by US and UK regulatory authorities.

The prospectus contains a huge level of detail on the company including information relating to pensions.

It states that some ex-employees - most likely Team Aer Lingus - believe they have a legal entitlement to certain pension provisions from Aer Lingus, but the company rejects this in the prospectus.

However, it does acknowledge that with 92 per cent of staff in a union the industrial relations climate could turn sour and have an impact on its operations and performance.

The prospectus discloses that chief executive Dermot Mannion cannot take up a position with a rival airline for 12 months after leaving Aer Lingus because of a "restrictive covenant" put in place by the company.

The prospectus shows that the bill for the advisers to the company and the Government will come to more than €30 million.

It also reveals that a previous chief executive Michael Foley is still taking legal action against the company for unfair dismissal