AER LINGUS chief executive Dermot Mannion was paid €1.115 million by the airline last year. This represented a 13.5 per cent increase on the €982,000 he earned from Aer Lingus in 2006.

Mr Mannion's pay comprised a salary of €433,000, a pension contribution of €312,000, a bonus of €335,000 and other benefits of €35,000.

In addition, Aer Lingus took a charge of €85,000 in its income statement in relation to the granting to Mr Mannion of 246,356 shares under a long-term incentive plan.

Aer Lingus paid its directors €2.2 million last year, compared to €1.48 million in 2006. This represents a rise of 47 per cent.

The airline's only other executive director, finance chief Greg O'Sullivan, earned €515,000 in 2007 compared to €154,000 in the previous year, when he served just under five months in the role.

Mr O'Sullivan is due to step down from his post next month to become company secretary.

The airline's non-executive directors also received chunky increases in their remuneration. Chairman John Sharman was paid €175,000 last year, just more than double what he earned from Aer Lingus in 2006. Ivor Fitzpatrick was the next best-paid non-executive director, earning €55,000 last year, up from €18,000 a year earlier.

The standard fee for non-executive directors was increased to €45,000 last year from €17,500 in 2006 following advice from independent consultants.

"This figure was determined having regard to the increase in directors' responsibilities in a listed company," the annual report states.

The jump in directors' pay came in a year when the airline's share price fell sharply and when it sought to implement €20 million worth of cuts in staff costs.

The annual report also shows that Aer Lingus took a charge last year of almost €7.9 million defending the takeover bid from Ryanair. The airline paid €16.2 million in 2006 in advisers' fees defending the Ryanair bid.

Separately, Aer Lingus said yesterday that its fuel surcharge on flights to the United States would increase from May 14th due to the rising cost of fuel. The charge will increase to €65 from €50 each way on flights to New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington.

The charge on flights to Orlando will rise to €75 while services to Los Angeles and San Francisco will rise to €90 each way.