Aer Lingus traffic edges higher

Aer Lingus passenger traffic edged up in January, with both long and short haul flights showing growth.

The airline carried a total of 563,000 passengers over the month, a rise of 5.8 per cent compared with 532,000 in 2010.

However, Aer Lingus passenger traffic declined sharply in January last year as a result of flight cancellations due to bad weather and a cabin crew dispute. In January 2010, Aer Lingus flew 665,000 passengers over the month.

Over January 2012, a total of 514,000 passengers took short haul flights with Aer Lingus, a rise of 6.2 per cent year on year, but still lower than the 608,000 recorded in January 2010.

Long haul passengers were 49,000, up 2.1 per cent on January 2011. In the same month of 2010, 57,000 passengers flew long-haul with the airline.

Passenger load factor for the first month of the year rose by 0.1 points to 62.3 per cent, with short haul rising two points to 62.5 per cent on 4.6 per cent higher capacity, and long haul flights falling 3.9 per cent to 61.8 per cent as capacity rose by 8 per cent.

Including figures from Aer Lingus Regional, flown passengers rose by 7.3 per cent. The joint venture saw passenger numbers rise by 26 per cent to 53,000 in January 2012.

Rival airline Ryanair saw its total passenger traffic fall by 6 per cent in January. The company said it grounded up to 80 aircraft for the winter due to higher oil prices, and had expected a 5 per cent decline in traffic. Over the month, it carried 4.39 million passengers, with load factor reaching 71 per cent.