Aer Lingus experienced a 5.2 per cent drop in passenger numbers for April but reported that its load factor was up for the month.
The Irish airline carried a total of 923,000 passengers last month, which includes those on its regional operations. This figure represents a 5.2 per cent drop on the same period last year, with Aer Lingus' short haul traffic down 5.5 per cent to 710,000 from 751,000.
However, its long haul passenger numbers rose by 1.8 per cent to 113,000 last month from 111,000 in April of last year.
While passenger numbers on its regional operations dropped by 10.7 per cent to 100,000 from 112,00 the same time last year, the airline could point to its load factor - how many seats on each flight - lifting to 78.2 per cent from 75.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, UK budget airline EasyJet increased its passenger numbers in April, carrying just over six million passengers - a 3.8 per cent rise on its April 2014 total.
