Aer Lingus has reported an €88 million fall-off in operating profit linked to industrial action by pilots over the summer as well as tougher trading conditions.
The carrier reported an operating profit of €148 million for the nine months to the end of September, down from €236 million for the same period last year.
The figures were “impacted by the summer industrial action by pilots at the airline and by market pressures, particularly across the Atlantic,” the company said.
The industrial action had a direct impact of €55 million over the second and third quarters “with an additional impact on forward bookings,” it said.
At the same time the airline said it was facing stiffer competition from rivals on transatlantic routes.
“Competitors across the Atlantic increased their capacity into Ireland by 20 per cent this summer, putting pressure on Aer Lingus’ long-haul revenues, particularly in the economy cabin,” it said while noting the third quarter saw a pick-up in demand for major sun destinations and European city destinations.
In a statement, the company also welcomed the recent decision by the High Court to grant a stay on the proposed 25.5 million passenger cap at Dublin airport for the 2025 summer season pending the outcome of a judicial review.
Aer Lingus in combination with rival Ryanair and lobby group Airlines for America (A4A) had brought an urgent application over the restriction set by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), which would have run from late March to October 2025.
In its High Court application, Aer Lingus argued the cap could result in a loss of up to €84 million in revenue.
“In the context of the competitive and cost environment and the uncertainty caused by the passenger cap, Aer Lingus has developed its network plan for 2025,” Aer Lingus said.
“This will see an expected six A321 XLR aircraft joining the fleet over 2024/ 2025 and some reduction in A330 and A320 flying,” it said.
The company’s latest results were released as part of owner IAG’s latest quarterly results. IAG said its quarterly operating profit jumped 15 per cent, beating forecasts.
The group, which also owns British Airways, reported an operating profit for the first three months to the end of September of €2 billion, up 15.4 per cent from €1.7 billion a year ago.
IAG also said it was upbeat on travel demand and it expected its strong financial performance to continue for the rest of the year while announcing a €350 million share buyback scheme.
Chief executive Luis Gallego said: “We achieved a very strong financial performance in Q3 2024, with a 15.4 per cent increase in operating profit compared to the same period last year and improving our margin to 21.6 per cent.
“This is due to the effectiveness of our strategy and group-wide transformation. We are also delivering on our commitment to provide sustainable returns for shareholders,” he said.
“Demand remains strong across our airlines and we expect a good final quarter of 2024 financially,” he said.
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