Weak demand prompts Aer Lingus Gatwick cuts

The fleet based at the London airport will reduce from five to three Airbus A320s from March 31 (see previous TravelMole story).

 

The three aircraft will continue to serve existing routes to Malaga, Dublin and Knock and a new route to Cork.

A statement said: "Aer Lingus anticipates that demand will remain soft for the first six months of 2010 and the group will therefore maintain its focus on tight capacity management to improve yields.

 

"These changes reflect weak consumer demand and continuing challenges in the UK operating environment, which have impacted aviation sector performance generally."

 

The airline said it expects to report a small operating profit before exceptional items for the second half of 2009.

 

"This performance primarily reflects better than expected yields in the second half of 2009, which have been driven by removal of a long haul aircraft in September and tactical route cancellations in November," the Irish carrier said.

It has agreed on the deferral of two A320 aircraft originally due for delivery in October and November 2010 to April and May 2011, respectively.

 

This is in addition to earlier deferrals previously announced. Aer Lingus negotiated the revised delivery schedule at no additional cost.

Aer Lingus' total passenger numbers last month in were 766,000, an increase of 9% compared to December 2008.

 

Short haul passengers were 693,000, a 13.2% increase and long haul passengers were 73,000, a 19.8% drop.

by Phil Davies