Aer Lingus said that it carried just over 1 million passengers in June, up 7.5 per cent compared to the same period 12 months ago.

Short-haul passengers rose 10.2 per cent, while long-haul flights saw a reduction of 14.2 per cent.

Aer Lingus’s overall load factor in the month decreased by 0.2 points compared to June 2008.

The load factor, or percentage of seats filled, on short-haul flights rose 0.9 points to 82 per cent, while capacity rose by 12.2 per cent.

The load factor on long-haul services was 80.2 per cent, down 1.9 points versus the same month a year ago.

Capacity on transatlantic flights fell by 16.3 per cent, the airline said yesterday.