Aer Lingus is to reduce capacity from Gatwick in response to poor passenger demand.
From March 2010, capacity at the base will be cut from five to three aircraft.
These will continue to serve existing routes to Malaga, Dublin and Knock and a new route to Cork. The airline said the changes reflect “weak consumer demand and continuing challenges in the UK operating environment”.
Aer Lingus has also deferred the delivery of two Airbus A320 aircraft due to arrive in October and November 2010 to April and May 2011.
The group expects to make a small operating profit for the second half of last year. The airline said the results were “better than expected” thanks to the removal of long-haul aircraft in September and tactical route cancellations in November.
Total passenger numbers for Aer Lingus in December 2009 were 766,000, an increase of 9% on the same month in 2008. Short-haul passengers rose 13% to 693,000 and long-haul passengers increased 19.8% to 73,000.