06/03/2009

Aer Lingus Reports Fall In Flyer Numbers

Aer Lingus has reported its passenger numbers were down 8.4% last month compared to February of last year.

The company says it carried 688,000 passengers during the month with passenger numbers on short-haul routes down 8% to 620,0000. Meanwhile the figure for long-haul services was down 11.7% to 68,000.

The company's bitter rival Ryanair has however reported a rise of 7% on last year's figures.

The budget airline claims to have flown 4.13 million passengers this February – a rise of 290,000 on last years figure.

The news comes on the same day Ryanair's Chairman Michael O'Leary conceded his decision to spend €390 million of shareholder's money on an Aer Lingus stake was a "stupid disaster".

Mr O'Leary made the admission at a media briefing on Friday morning, where the enigmatic chairman called for a number of measures and outlined his plans to charge passengers to use the toilets on Ryanair flights.

He also called for the Government to axe the €5bn metro, the aviation regulator's office and the €10 aviation tax.

(DW/BMcC)

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