Aer Lingus profit soars 400% to €225m but falls short of pre-pandemic performance

Airline's recovery was helped by strong demand for summer travel across its European and North American routes

The airline still remains down on its pre-pandemic figures, however, with this year's operating profit falling short of the €279m posted in 2019. Picture Brendan Gleeson

Operating profits at Aer Lingus have soared by over 400% to €225m with the airline further closing the gap on its pre-pandemic financial performance.

Releasing its annual results on Thursday, the company beat 2022 sales by more than €500m, generating revenues of €2.27bn in the year. 

Its operating profit was up by €167m on the previous year, with an operating margin of 9.9%.

The airline still remains down on its pre-pandemic figures, however, with this year's operating profit falling short of the €279m posted in 2019. 

The airline flew 10.7m passengers last year, however, a rise in operating costs resulted in a lagging of profits in the period. 

Aer Lingus operated its largest-ever North American network and added more routes and capacity to European destinations, with revenue largely driven by demand for summer travels across these regions.

In 2024, Aer Lingus will be expanding its network to 21 routes to the US and Canada, including the restarting of Minneapolis and a new route to Denver.

Business travel in 2023 also lagged behind pre-pandemic levels but the airline noted it was showing "some signs of recovery" in early 2024.

"These results put Aer Lingus on the right trajectory for the future," said chief executive, Lynne Embleton.

"We have a compelling growth strategy for Aer Lingus that will be good for the company, our employees, our customers and for Ireland. However, achieving it is dependent on having the right cost base and productivity levels and not being constrained by the unnecessary passenger cap issue."

Ms Embelton added that these challenges will need to be resolved by a "collaborative and sensible approach" that delivers the right outcomes”.