The decline comprised a 12.3% fall in short-haul and a 17% fall in long-haul yields, partly offset by an 8.5% increase in ancillary revenue per passenger.
The figures were included in an interim management statement issued this morning, which also showed that total third quarter revenues decreased by 9.7%.
Passenger numbers grew by 7% to 3.08m, with short-haul carryings up 10% but long-haul down 13.2%.
Short-haul capacity in available seat kilometres increased by 10.5%, while long-haul decreased by 18%.
Overall flown load factor improved by 1.3 percentage points to 80.4%, with short-haul up 1.4pp at 82% and long-haul up 0.6pp at 77.8%.
Net cash as at 30 September 2009 totalled €399.9m, 38.8% lower than on 31 December 2008, reflecting €107m restructuring costs, the final payments for two new Airbus A330 aircraft delivered in the first half and the net cash flow from operating activities.
Aer Lingus announced a new transformation plan on 7 October to ‘reduce costs, remove legacy work practices and improve revenue’.
The plan is expected to yield operating costs savings, excluding fuel, of €97m per annum, consisting of €74m in staff and €23m in non-staff savings.
The first stage of the plan is underway, with management engaged in a consultation period with employees and unions, which it expects to conclude about 18 November.
A further A330 will be removed from long-haul service as part of the plan, reducing the airline’s long-haul winter 2009/10 operations to five units and summer 2010 to a maximum of six.
Looking to current trading, Aer Lingus said it continued to experience challenging conditions.
However, it added that ‘the actions taken to remove capacity on underperforming parts of the network have had a positive impact on stabilising load factors and yields while reducing operating costs.
‘While the fall in yield year-on-year continues, the pace of decline in average fares does not appear to be accelerating currently.
‘Cost increases in the form of higher fuel prices, airport and navigation charges, together with further expected GDP declines and unemployment increases in our major markets, will mean that we must continue to reduce any costs within our control so that we can cope with continued falling fares, compete and maintain balance sheet strength.’
See also:
Aer Lingus starts talks over 700+ job cuts (07/10/2009)
Lower fares hit Aer Lingus [H1s] (27/08/2009)
Fleet restructure for Aer Lingus (04/08/2009)
Fuel costs and Aer Lingus push Ryanair into red (02/06/2009)