Aer Lingus sees rise in passenger numbers in August

Passenger numbers at Aer Lingus rose by 2.2 per cent to 6.74 million for the first eight months of the year.

Figures published on Thursday show passenger numbers increased by 5.6 per cent last month to 1.061 million.

Short haul passengers rose 3.3 per cent to 913,000 in August 2014, compared to 884,000 for the same month a year earlier. For the year-to-date, short haul passenger nubmers were up marginally to 5.89 million from 5.87 million for the same period in 2013.

Long haul passengers increased by 22.3per cent to 148,000 last month as against 121,000 for August 2013. For the first eight months of the year, long haul passenger numbers were up 17.4 per cent.

Total passenger numbers at Aer Lingus, including Aer Lingus Regional, were up 7 per cent to 1.205 million in August and up 4.4 per cent to 7.65 million for the first half of 2014.

Aer Lingus Regional passenger traffic rose 19 per cent to 144,000 last month and was up 24.1 per cent for the January to July period.

The airline said its passenger load factor - how many seats it fills on each flight - was up 1.2 percentage points to 97.8 per cent last month. Short haul passenger load factor increased to 83.5 per cent from 82.1 per cent in August 2013. Long haul load factor was 94.1 per cent as against 94.9 per cent for the same month a year earlier.