September 1, 2011, 4:25pm
DUBLIN (AFP) – Irish airline Aer Lingus said that net losses narrowed to 13.1 million euros ($18.9 million) in the first half of the year and that it was on course for an annual profit.
The shortfall, suffered in the six months to the end of June, compared with a loss after taxation of 18.4 million euros in the same period of 2010, Aer Lingus said in a results statement.
Pre-tax losses meanwhile stood at 14.2 million euros, compared with a loss of 20.8 million euros last time around. Sales grew by 5.8 percent to 569.1 million euros.
Chief Executive Christoph Mueller said that the results had been hit mainly by the impact of a cabin crew dispute which cost 15 million euros in the first quarter, and forecast that the group would turn a profit in 2011.
''Aer Lingus will make a profit this year,'' Mueller told RTE state radio.
''We are far more optimistic now than at the end of quarter one. Business and trading is very good.''
He noted that operating profits before exceptional items had improved by almost 40 percent to 25.9 million euros in the second quarter.
''This result was underpinned by the positive impact of... stabilized passenger numbers, strong yield growth and the absence of airspace closures in Northern Europe which occurred in 2010,'' Mueller said in the earnings release.
''However, first half losses were higher than last year mainly due to the cabin crew dispute at the start of the year.''
Passenger numbers were down 1.0 percent in the first half and the average yield per passenger was up 8.4 percent.
But total passenger numbers increased by 8.3 percent in the second quarter, with short haul up 8.6 percent and long haul up 4.8 percent.
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