Aer Lingus has urged Dublin Airport and its European counterparts to “learn” from last year when delays caused havoc for travellers as the airline looks to capitalise on pent-up demand for travel while it continues its recovery from the damage wrought by the Covid-19 crisis.
Surging passenger numbers combined with labour shortages caused significant delays at Dublin Airport last summer, catapulting the airlines and the airport into a political storm. Almost 1,000 people missed flights on the last Sunday in May.
Aer Lingus’s parent, International Airlines Group, published its full year results for 2022 on Friday. They show Aer Lingus recorded an operating profit of €45 million, bouncing back from a loss €338 million in 2021. However, the results show the airline’s bottom line was still significantly behind pre-Covid 2019 when profits had hit €276 million.
Speaking on a conference call after the results were released, Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton said she was expecting Dublin Airport, as well as others around Europe, to be better prepared this year. “We’ll be ready,” she said, noting the airline brought on an additional 1,000 staff last year.
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“Most of our recruitment is done, and so is training. I am expecting that other players in the system – and it is a system that has knock-on effects – will learn from last year, and I think we should be expecting a better summer than we had in 2022.”
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She added that passenger charges at Dublin Airport “have to be competitive” and should not climb beyond their current rate. Airport operator DAA has argued that it is not getting enough cash to ensure it can provide the service customers and airlines expect.
“Customers rightly should expect a clean and a functioning airport,” she said. “So, when you come to DAA, the regulator came to a view on charges. We certainly don’t think they should be any higher, and the DAA now needs to focus on delivering.”
Aer Lingus generated almost €1.8 billion in revenue last year, which was up from €376 million in 2021. It had cash of €375 million on its books, which was up from €228 million the year before.
The airline’s passenger capacity compared with 2019 grew steadily as the year went on, rising from 69 per cent in the first quarter to 85.6 in the second, 89.9 per cent in the third, and 98.5 per cent in the last quarter. The total for the year as a whole was 86.8 per cent.
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Aer Lingus was able to restore the majority of its transatlantic services and also operated three transatlantic services from its new Manchester Airport base in the UK, all of which started in late 2021. These services represented 13 per cent of Aer Lingus’ transatlantic capacity and 8 per cent of its total network in 2022. The Manchester base supported Aer Lingus in restoring long-haul passenger capacity to similar levels to 2019 by the end of the year.
Aer Lingus also reopened six routes to North America during the year. Passenger load factor for the region was down 4.8 points versus 2019 to 79.3 per cent but was up 29.9 points versus 2021.
The airline said leisure travel was “key to recovery”, particularly in the peak holiday periods, with business travel also recovering but at a slower pace.
“There has been high market demand for European sun destinations and North Atlantic routes, with notable strength in inbound US passengers,” it said. “The new Aer Lingus Manchester base also performed well in its first full year of operations.”
“We are mindful that business travel recovery lags that of leisure, and that global macroeconomic uncertainties causing higher oil prices, exchange rate fluctuations, rising interest rates and inflation could impact aviation this year.”
It said 2023 will see the airline operating its largest ever North America network, while it will also put additional capacity on its European leisure routes and add three new summer routes to Kos (Greece), Sardinia (Italy) and Brindisi (Italy).
