Aer Lingus passengers up 9%

Aer Lingus said this morning its passenger numbers rose 9 per cent in September.

A total of 847,000 people flew with the airline during the month, up from 777,000 in September 2006.

The airline's passenger load factor - how full its aircraft were - was up 0.5 per cent points to 80.5 per cent on short-haul flights despite a capacity increase of 9.8 per cent year-on-year.

However, long-haul load factor fell to 67.9 per cent from 72.8 per cent.

Short-haul passenger numbers gained 8 per cent to 742,000, while long-haul passenger numbers rose 9 per cent to 847,000.

Long-haul capacity rose by 26.3 per cent through the introduction of two more aircraft.