Long-haul flights drive Aer Lingus passenger growth

Aer Lingus carried 18,000 additional passengers last month in comparison to the same period in 2014.

Some 815,000 passengers flew with Aer Lingus in March compared to 797,000 the previous year — an increase of 2.3%.

The pick-up was again predominantly driven by Aer Lingus’s long-haul routes.

Long-haul traffic increased by 25.3% on March 2014, a rise from 75,000 passengers to 94,000.

Short-haul traffic accounted for 625,000 of the company’s total number of passengers — a decrease of 3,000, or 0.5%.

The overall passenger load factor for the month (which measures how much of an airline’s passenger-carrying capacity is used) was up 4.4% to 79.1% in the month.

David Holohan, head of research at Merrion Stockbrokers, said: “Overall these results highlight the continued trend of a strong long-haul delivery with a continued sluggish passenger growth development for the short-haul network.

“To the management team’s credit, they are successfully adapting the short-haul network and capacity levels in order to increase profit margins, but the main challenge will be on growing passenger numbers meaningfully given the significant increase in those that are flying on low-cost carriers.”

Growth opportunities at Aer Lingus, as evidenced by the March statistics, are firmly attached to its long-haul prospects — this represents a key pillar of IAG’s plans for the airline, Mr Holohan said.

“In the absence of IAG, Aer Lingus will continue to operate on a sub-par basis in comparison than if it were part of a larger organisation and benefitting from the operational and financial synergies that would result,” he added.