Total revenues at Aer Lingus fell by 9.7 per cent during the third quarter of 2009 despite a 7 per cent increase in passengers, according to an interim trading statement published this morning.
Aer Lingus said average passenger revenue fell by 14.8 per cent year-on-year on account of a significant decline in long-haul passengers.
During the three-month period under review, the number of long-haul passengers flying with the troubled airline fell 13.2 per cent while the number of short-haul passengers carried by Aer Lingus was up 10 per cent.
Short-haul capacity increased by 10.5 per cent in the quarter ending September 30th while long haul capacity decreased by 18.0 per cent.
Load factor - the average number of seats filled on each aircraft - rose by 1.3 per cent to 80.4 per cent, with short haul flown load factor rising 1.4 per cent to 82 per cent, and long-haul load factor up by 0.6 percentage points to 77.8 per cent.
Overall, the airline carried a total of 3.08 million passengers during the third quarter of 2009.
The company said this morning that short-haul average fares fell by 12.3 per cent year-on-year, a decline which was partly offset by an 8.5 per cent rise in ancillary revenue per passenger. Long haul average fares fell by 17 per cent for the year ending September 30th.
Overall average fares for the quarter declined 17.6 per cent on the same period last year.
Net cash was €399.9 million at the end of the third quarter, a decrease of 38.8 per cent compared to the €653.9 million recorded at the end of 2008. The decline includes an outflow of €107 million for restructuring costs,.
Based on an estimated unhedged fuel cost of $696 per tonne for the remaining two months of the year, Aer Lingus expects its blended fuel rate to be $864 per tonne for the 2009 full year. The group said it has extended its hedging to 53 per cent of the estimated 2010 full year tonnage at a rate of $778 per tonne and 9 per cent of the estimated 2011 full-year tonnage at a rate of $734 per tonne.
"The business continues to experience challenging conditions. However the actions taken to remove capacity on underperforming parts of the network has had a positive impact on stabilising load factors and yields while reducing operating costs. While the fall in yield year on year continues, the pace of decline in average fares does not appear to be accelerating currently," the group said in a statement.
"Cost increases in the form of higher fuel prices, airport and navigation charges together with further expected GDP declines and unemployment increases in our major markets, will mean that we must continue to reduce any costs within our control so that we can cope with continued falling fares, compete and maintain balance sheet strength," it added.
Last month Aer Lingus confirmed plans to cut 676 jobs as part of a restructuring plan aimed at reducing annual operating costs by €97 million before the end of 2011.
Aer Lingus said its restructuring plan involves achieving cost savings of €74 million and non-staff cost savings of €23 million. In addition to reducing headcount the airline said it was necessary to "fundamentally change" so-called legacy work practices and would be seeking an average 10 per cent pay cut for staff whose basic pay exceeds €35,000 a year.
