Aer Lingus operating profit up 19% in third quarter
Aer Lingus has had its most profitable quarter since the financial crisis, reporting an operating profit of just under €113m euro for the three months to the end of September, up 19% on the same time last year.
In results for the period July 1 to September 30 announced today, the airline recorded an operating profit of €112.9m, up from €94.9m in 2013.
Total revenue for the third quarter was up 13.9% year-on-year to €531.1m, the airline said.
Aer Lingus said a recovery in short haul revenue, up 5.5%, was a highlight of Q3 with passenger volumes up 2.2% and average revenue per seat up 5.2%
Long haul continued to perform strongly with fare revenues of €175.9m for the quarter, up 34% from €131.3m for Q3 2013.
“We are particularly pleased with Aer Lingus’ Q3 2014 performance," CEO Christoph Mueller said.
"Our quarterly operating result of €112.9m, representing an operating margin of 21.3%, is 19.0% above prior year and is our highest Q3 operating result since the financial crisis."
Mr Mueller said that assuming the current trading environment is maintained, management now expect that Aer Lingus’ full year 2014 operating profit, before exceptional items, will be ahead of the 2013 operating result (i.e. €61.1m).
The airline said it carried a total of over 3 million passengers during the quarter, up 4.8% compared to 2013. It additionally said that passenger numbers were up 2.3% in October when compared to the same month last year.
