Aer Lingus’ total passenger numbers in October 2009 were 902,000 a fall of 0.2% compared to October 2008. Short haul passengers were 821,000, a 3.3% increase on October 2008 and long haul passengers were 81,000, a 25.7% decrease on October 2008.

Aer Lingus’ overall load factor  - - the ratio of available seats filled - - in the month was 74.6%, an increase of 1.3 points compared to October 2008, with capacity decreasing by 10.4%.

Short haul load factor was 77.0%, a decrease of 0.1 points on 2008, with capacity increasing by 6.0%. Long haul load factor was 70.1%, an increase of 1.3 points on 2008, with capacity decreasing by 30.4%.

Goodbody analyst Marina Houghton commented:"On the short haul side, passengers continued to increase for the seventh consecutive month, rising by 3.3% yoy (year-on-year) as capacity rose by 6% yoy, leading to a 10bps move down in load factors to 77%. Both capacity and passenger numbers have been increasing over the last seven months by between 6-15% yoy, with the highest increases seen in the months of May, June and July, presumably driven by the new Gatwick base.

In stark contrast, and not surprisingly, the carrier has been reducing capacity on the long haul side over the last 11 months and the October number was the largest fall since the carrier began to take capacity out of this segment in December 2008, posting a 30.4% decline yoy in capacity for October. Long haul passenger numbers continued their 16-month decline and show a deteriorating trend, posting a 25.7% yoy drop. During the month, capacity cuts outpaced the decline in passenger demand, leading to a 1.3 percentage point increase yoy in the factor to 70.1%, however we note that whilst many airlines are now seeing an improvement in loads, this is at the cost of declining fares and yields."

Houghton also commented on the Irish air travel tax, which raised €67m in first six months of 2009: "Since the air travel tax was implemented in Ireland in April of this year, it has raised a very controversial €67m. Many of the airlines operating out of Irish airports, as well as various groups representing the Irish tourist industry have called for the tax to be scrapped as it is blamed for a large part of the 15% decline in passenger numbers seen over the summer months. According to an article in this morning’s Irish Times, the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, has indicated that the rates “are not unreasonable both for shorter and longer journeys, when compared to rates in other countries”, so it would seem that there are no near-term plans to scrap the tax."