national

Aer Lingus loses €81m

Aer Lingus has reported an operating loss of €81m for 2009 while revenues fell by 11% to €1.205bn from €1.355bn.

The airline published an 'unaudited trading update' after delaying the publication of its annual results as it holds an emergency board meeting to consider alternative plans to achieve €97m in savings.

Aer Lingus said its passenger numbers during the year rose by 3.8% to 10.4m as its total capacity fell by 5.1%.

The airline said its average fares for the year declined by 16.8%. Ancillary revenues rose by over 16% to €173.9m. Fuel costs last year declined by 17.3% to €331.7m.

All five workers' groups at the company have held separate ballots on the proposed restructuring plan.

Last night craftworkers, who are members of the UNITE union, approved the plan with 83% voting in favour.

However, cabin crew have rejected it by nearly two to one.

The board is meeting to approve alternative plans to achieve the necessary savings.