The September 11th terrorist attacks in the US and the Foot and Mouth crisis combined to bring about a slump in passenger numbers which contributed to the State airline, Aer Lingus, posting losses of €140 million for the year 2001.
This contrasts starkly with the profit of €72 million made in 2000.
The losses include an one-time charge of €104 million which relates to the cost of making close to 2,000 workers redundant last year.
The airline also lost €50 million as a result of a fall off in passenger numbers. The airline, which saw passenger numbers slump to 6.6 million in the year to the end of December 2001, down 4.6 per cent on the previous year, has already made significant job cuts under a survival plan established last year.
"The airline's survival plan has now been implemented and, while good progress has been made, much more remains to be done to return the company to adequate levels of profitability,” said Group chairman Mr Tom Mulcahy.
