Aer Lingus passenger numbers fell 17% in January compared to the same month last year, the airline said this morning.
Total booked passenger numbers in January 2011 were 552,000: 504,000 short-haul (down 17.1%) and 48,000 long-haul (down 15.8%).
Flight cancellations due to weather disruption as well as the industrial dispute with the IMPACT cabin crew union meant the number of passengers carried was 4% below the level of booked passengers.
Load factor for the month, the percentage of booked passengers as a percentage of seats available, decreased by 3.6 points on January 2010 to 63.8%.