Aer Lingus Enjoys 15% Passenger Numbers Increase

Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus has confirmed that its expanding route network has aided an increase in February passenger numbers by 15% year on year. The airline also stated that 751,000 customers took Aer Lingus flights in February, up from 653,000 in February 2007.

In addition to February increases, Aer Lingus says its passenger numbers for the whole of 2008 are up by almost 13% on the same period in 2007 with nearly 1.5 million passengers flying with Aer Lingus throughout January and February.

Despite the increase in passenger numbers, load factors on Aer Lingus flights suffered a drop, with short-haul and long haul load factors dropping by 3% and 14.7% respectively. The fall in long haul load factor has resulted from two new aircraft to Aer Lingus’ fleet in 2007 and the opening of three new US destinations, all of which added to a 41.7% increase in the number of seats on transatlantic routes.