Aer Lingus reports 17% jump in long haul passengers

Aer Lingus saw passenger numbers rise by 2.9 per cent in July compared with the same month last year.

Long haul passengers were 116,000 last month, an increase of 17.2 per cent on July 2012.

Short haul passengers, including Aer Lingus Regional, in July were 1,025,000, an increase of 1.5 per cent on the same month last year.

Aer Lingus said its load factor - the seats it fills in each flight - rose by 1.3 points to 87.9 per cent in July compared with last year.

Aer Lingus said bookings for the remainder of the year were ahead of last year with long haul looking particularly positive.

“However, this booking profile has somewhat eroded over July due to the good weather.”