Aer Lingus passenger numbers down by 9% as price hikes of 17% forecast

AER Lingus saw passenger numbers plunge again last month with analysts saying the airline will hike prices by as much as 17% this year.

Aer Lingus said total passenger numbers in July were 1.02 million, down almost 9%. The overall load factor, which is a measurement of the number of seats filled rose to 86%. Passenger numbers on long haul plunged just over 12% as capacity was cut by 14%.

Goodbody analyst Marina Devitt said the decline in passengers on long haul continued to ease back to the 10% to 15% range for the third consecutive month.