Aer Lingus expands 14% in May

Airline’s parent flew almost 10m passengers last month

Aer Lingus  sold 79.6% of the seats on its aircraft during the month. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Aer Lingus sold 79.6% of the seats on its aircraft during the month. Photograph: Cyril Byrne

Irish airline Aer Lingus’s business grew 14 per cent last month, figures released on Thursday show.

The four carriers that make up Aer Lingus's parent, International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) flew 9.97 million passengers in May, 9.5 per cent more than in the same month last year.

Aer Lingus revenue passenger kilometres increased 14 per cent to 2.263 million in May 2018 from 1.985 million during May, 2017.

However, the airline sold 79.6 per cent of the seats on its aircraft during the month, slightly lower than the 79.9 per cent it recorded in May 2017.

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Revenue passenger kilometres

Aer Lingus’s revenue passenger kilometres rose 8.4 per cent in the first five months of 2018 to 7.9 million from 7.3 million during the same period last year.

The airline began flying its first Dublin-Seattle service last month. Aer Lingus flies the route four times a-week. Dublin-Seattle is Aer Lingus’s 15th North American service.