Lynne Embleton, chief executive of Aer Lingus, has been chosen as The Irish Times Businessperson of the Month for August, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.
During the month, the Irish airline published its half-year results showing a strong rebound in its profitability.
Aer Lingus earned €80 million profit in the first six months of the year, up from €9 million a year earlier. This was a period when it began operating its biggest ever transatlantic network, adding Nashville, Tennessee and Indianapolis, Indiana, to its schedule.
It also emerged during the month that Aer Lingus was mulling flights to Pittsburgh in the United States from Dublin next year as part of a further expansion of its North American business.
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In results released at the start of the month, Aer Lingus said it earned operating profits of €135 million in the three months to the end of June, more than 43 per cent ahead of the same period last year.
Aer Lingus said its performance was largely down to capacity growth, as well as a “robust revenue performance”.
It also benefited from favourable fuel pricing. There was 10.9 per cent growth in overall capacity and a 4.3 per cent increase in passenger numbers compared with last year.
In addition, Luis Gallego, chief executive of Aer Lingus parent International Airlines Group, confirmed that the Irish carrier would receive three Airbus A321 extra-long-range (XLR) aircraft later this year.
