Aer Lingus swings back into profit

AER LINGUS moved back into profit in 2010 but has warned while it is likely to remain in the black, profitability will be hithard this year if fuel price increases persist.

The airline yesterday reported a pre-tax profit of €30.4 million for 2010 — up from a pre-tax loss of €154.8m in 2009. Similarly, it went from an operating loss of €81m to a profit of €57.6m; with revenue rising by 0.8% to €1.22bn.

Management still called 2010 “a difficult year”, even though its transatlantic business returned to profitability; the €4.3m hit from the volcanic ash disruption in early summer was less than initial expectations of closer to €10m; €41.4m in cost savings were realised and ancillary revenue per passenger rose by 5.5%.