Aer Lingus December passenger traffic falls 4.6%

A slowdown in Aer Lingus passengers on its long-haul routes to the United States contributed to an overall year-on-year fall in passenger traffic for Aer Lingus last month.

Aer Lingus said it carried 703,000 passengers in December, down 4.6 per cent when compared with the same month in 2007.

Passenger numbers on short-haul flights were 4.1 per cent lower while those travelling to long-haul destinations were 8.1 per cent down over the period.

The load factor, or proportion of seats filled, on short-haul flights was 66.9 per cent which the airline says was almost 2 per cent lower compared to December 2007. Capacity on these routes increased 1.4 per cent over the period, Aer Lingus said.

On long-haul flights the load factor dropped to 72.6 per cent, down 0.5 per cent compared with November 2007, despite a 10.2 per cent decrease in capacity.

Separately, Ryanair, which earlier this week extended the deadline for its takeover offer for Aer Lingus, released a letter this morning that it has sent to Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington.

In it Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary poses four questions including why Aer Lingus has been “bypassed and ignored” by pan-European airline consolidation?

Mr O'Leary also pointed to an interview Mr Barrington gave to The Irish Timesbefore Christmas which said the former State carrier would seek a "friendly investor who will take a majority stake in the airline".

According to Mr O’Leary's letter today this suggests Aer Lingus management sees no independent future for the airline.