Irish carrier Aer Lingus says full-year loss increases 18 percent to $176 million

Aer Lingus full-year loss widens 18 pct

DUBLIN — Irish airline Aer Lingus Group PLC on Tuesday said its full year loss widened by 18 percent in 2009 to euro130 million ($176 million) as revenue declined amid a painful recession.

The figure compared with the previous year’s loss of euro109.8 million. Revenue fell from euro1.35 billion to euro1.2 billion, and the company said average fares were down nearly 18 percent. Capacity has been cut by 4 percent compared with 2008, the company said.

The airline did benefit from a 17 percent drop in fuel costs, and it also pared other operating costs by 2 percent.

Still, the company’s operating loss before exception items widened to euro81 million compared to euro20 million a year earlier.

Aer Lingus shares were up 4.2 percent at euro0.74 in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange.

“2009 was a very difficult year for the group with total revenues declining by 11.0 percent in the face of recession in each of our major markets,” said Christoph Mueller, who took over as chief executive in September.

“The outlook for 2010 remains uncertain with limited visibility over the second half of 2010 in particular. However, we are satisfied that we have started the process of improving yields while implementing the necessary cost reduction program,” said Mueller, who was formerly aviation director at Anglo-German travel group TUI Travel PLC.