Aer Lingus reports increased load factor for January; Long haul traffic up 22%

Aer Lingus Group plc has announced its traffic statistics for the month of January 2015.

Overall passenger load factor for the month was up 2.4 percentage points to 68.9%. The long haul load factor increased by 2 percentage points to 73.7% whilst the short load factor increased 1.7 percentage points

The total number of passengers carried during the month of January 2015 was 614,000, including Aer Lingus Regional. This figure is down 5.7% compared to 651,000 passengers in January 2014 reflecting a planned reduction in short haul capacity.

Long haul traffic continued to increase, up by 22% to 72,000 passengers in January 2015, compared to 59,000 in the same month in 2014.

Short haul traffic for January 2015 was down 7.6%, with 474,000 short haul passengers carried compared to 513,000 in January 2014. As in recent months, the reduction in short haul capacity during January relates to planned network adjustments to protect margins given seasonal demand conditions.