Aer Lingus upbeat on performance

Aer Lingus said a combination of lower fuel costs and reduced costs contributed to its trading during April and May outperforming the same period last year.

In a statement, released ahead of its agm in Dublin today, the airline said its regional franchise and a code-share agreement with United Airline had also contributed.

This was despite the fact that Aer Lingus did not operate all scheduled flights for 18 days during these two months because of airspace closures due to volcanic ash.

Load factors, the measure of what percentage of seats were filled, in April and May were higher than the same months last year.

Aer Lingus predicted a modest decrease in short-haul bookings for the summer but said it was satisfied with forward bookings for its long-haul operations.

The airline said its liquidity position remained “extremely robust” and that its balance sheet was strong enough to meet any challenges.

“We are encouraged by the group’s trading performance in the first five months of the year, however, given the broader economic environment it is appropriate to remain cautious on the group’s 2010 full year performance.”