An accelerating slowdown in the number of Aer Lingus passengers on long-haul routes to the United States contributed to a fall of 8.4 per cent in passenger traffic last month.
Aer Lingus said it carried 688,000 passengers in February, down 8.4 per cent when compared with the same month in 2008 as the airline cut routes and flights.
Passenger numbers on short-haul flights were 8 per cent lower at 620,000 while those travelling to long-haul destinations fell 11.7 per cent over the period to 68,000.
The load factor last month, a measure of the proportion of seats filled, on short-haul flights increased by 5.4 per cent to 77.5 per cent.
Capacity on these routes declined 9.2 per cent over the period, Aer Lingus said.
On long-haul flights the load factor rose to 64.3 per cent, up 4.2 per cent compared with February 2008 following a 20.7 per cent decrease in capacity.
The revenue per passenger dropped 2.4 per cent on short-haul flights and by 15.2 per cent on long haul flights.