Aer Lingus sees Q3 recovery

Aer Lingus has reported a recovery in its performance during the summer peak but has cautioned about prospects for 2011.

The Irish carrier, which has been undertaking stringent cost cutting measures, recorded an operating profit up by 35.4% to euro 79.2 million in the three months to September 30 over the same period last year.

This has contributed to a year to date operating profit of euro 60.2 million against a loss of euro 34.4 million in the equivalent period in 2009.

Chief executive Christoph Mueller said: “Our performance in the third quarter and year to date is a very significant improvement on 2009 and strongly supports our strategy.

“However, we remain cautious on the outlook for 2011 given concerns about the durability of the recent aviation sector performance as well as continuing economic uncertainty in our primary markets.”