Aer Lingus passenger traffic up 15%

Aer Lingus said this morning its passenger traffic numbers rose by 15

Aer Lingus said this morning its passenger traffic numbers rose by 15.4 per cent last month to 898,000 people on the back of new routes and additional aircraft.

In a statement the airline said its short-haul routes had seen a 15.7 per cent increase in passenger numbers and a 13.4 per cent increase on long haul.

The load factor, or proportion of seats filled, fell to 75.3 per cent from 78.1 per cent when compared with the same period a year earlier, Aer Lingus said.

On long-haul flights the load factor dropped by over 7 per cent to 72.2 per cent as capacity for the month increased by 31.5 per cent following the introduction of two new aircraft.