A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Aer Lingus passenger figures rise 15%
Aer Lingus carried 751,000 passengers in February, a 15 per cent rise on the same month in 2007.
Figures published yesterday, however, showed that the number of seats filled on each aircraft declined sharply on both short-haul and long-haul routes. This reflects the airline's difficulties in filling the extra capacity it added to its network in 2007.
Aer Lingus's combined load factor was 66.7 per cent, compared with 75 per cent a year earlier. On long-haul services to the US and Dubai, Aer Lingus said its load factor declined to 60.1 per cent in February from 74.8 per cent a year earlier.
Capacity on these routes increased by 41.7 per cent during the period, reflecting the introduction of two new A330 aircraft on services to the US and the start of flights to Orlando, San Francisco and Washington DC.
On short-haul services, the load factor declined by three points year on year to 72.1 per cent at a time when its capacity on these routes rose by 17.9 per cent.
Aer Lingus's share price was unchanged at €2.12 in Dublin yesterday.
Lynn's home to be sold by bank
Ulster Bank Ireland's solicitors were yesterday given permission by the High Court to proceed with necessary paperwork for the sale of missing solicitor Michael Lynn's former family home in Sandymount, Dublin, next Tuesday (March 11th).
Number 20, St Alban's Park, the home of Mr Lynn and his wife Bríd Murphy, is the subject of a number of claims from financial institutions and from Ms Murphy herself and is to be sold by public auction.
Yesterday, in the Commercial Court, Ulster Bank was granted permission to allow solicitor, Gerard H. Walsh of McKeever Rowan, execute all deeds and documents necessary for the sale to take place.
The order requires that vacant possession be provided for the purpose of the sale which the court previously heard is to be handled by auctioneers Lisneys.
Granting the order, Mr Justice Peter Kelly said a separate application seeking the appointment of the bank's solicitor as a receiver of the asset could be brought back to court if it was necessary.
Bank of Scotland Ireland (BoSI) and AIB also have claims over the Sandymount house.
Standard Life bond move Standard Life Ireland is to become the financial services group's base for international bonds, with the Dublin office playing a key role in the global ambitions of the company, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh.
Standard Life Ireland will be merged with Standard Life International, which was set up in Dublin in 2006 and had offshore sales of £284 million last year.
Michael Leahy, Standard Life Ireland's chief executive, is leaving the company after 18 years. Audrey McLaren, operations director for Standard Life Germany, will become chief executive of Standard Life International and will also have responsibility for the Irish domestic business.
Yen warning for Toyota
Toyota faces tough conditions caused by an excessive appreciation of the yen and an unexpectedly steep downturn in the US, the chief executive of Japan's largest car maker said yesterday.
"The yen has strengthened too much and will have a big impact on us," said Katsuaki Watanabe, as the currency jumped from about Y105 to the dollar just days ago to a more than three-year high of almost Y102 yesterday.
