Aer Lingus passenger traffic edged up in January, with growth in both long- and short-haul flights. The airline carried 563,000 passengers over the month, a rise of 5.8 per cent compared with 532,000 in 2011. However, passenger traffic declined sharply in January 2011 as a result of cancellations due to bad weather and a cabin crew dispute. In January 2010, Aer Lingus flew 665,000 passengers over the month.
Passenger load factor for the first month of the year rose by 0.1 points to 62.3 per cent. Short-haul rose two points to 62.5 per cent on 4.6 per cent higher capacity; long-haul flights fell 3.9 per cent to 61.8 per cent as capacity rose by 8 per cent.
Ryanair’s total passenger traffic fell by 6 per cent in January. It said it grounded up to 80 aircraft for the winter due to higher oil prices and had expected a 5 per cent decline in traffic. Over the month, it carried 4.39 million passengers, with load factor reaching 71 per cent.