Aer Lingus saw passenger numbers fall by almost 10 per cent last month, according to new figures released this morning.
The airline attributed the decline to disruption caused by volcanic ash clouds from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland. As a consequence there were eleven days in May where Aer Lingus did not operate all scheduled flights.
Overall, 876,000 passengers flew with Aer Lingus last month, down 9.9 per cent compared to May 2009. Long haul passenger numbers totalled 79,00, a 12.2 per cent decrease on the same month a year earlier, while short haul numbers totalled 797,000, a 9.6 per cent year-on-year decline.
Aer Lingus' overall load factor - a measure of how well the airline is filling seats - was 79.3 per cent, a rise of 5.6 points compared to May 2009, with capacity decreasing by 17.7 per cent.
Short haul load factor was 80 per cent, an increase of 1.9 points on the same month last year, with capacity decreasing by 11.6 per cent. Long haul load factor was 77.9 per cent, an increase of 11.7 points on May 2009, with capacity decreasing by 28.1 per cent.
