Aer Lingus reported a 40% increase in operating profit for the six months to June despite issuing a profit warning only last month.
The Irish carrier said its full-year operating profit should at least match 2013’s following a “significant improvement”. Aer Lingus forecast its annual profits would be 20% lower than expected in June.
However, the airline posted its best second-quarter results for four years yesterday despite a cabin crew strike at the end of May which cost €10 million (£7.9 million).
Aer Lingus reported revenue growth of 6% over the six months and a 1% increase in passenger numbers.
It reported a “creditable short-haul performance in a tough environment”, but said: “Long haul continues to perform very strongly.”
Long-haul passenger numbers rose 24% year on year in the second quarter and average revenue per seat was up almost 9%.
Aer Lingus said: “Management expect [the] full-year 2014 operating profit will be at least in line with 2013.”
Chief executive Christoph Mueller expressed delight, saying: “We sold the 25.3% additional long-haul capacity deployed in Q2 2014 with . . . 5.3% higher long-haul yields.
“We continue to attract more passengers in the North Atlantic transfer market from both European and US locations, most of them through our online booking portal.”
Mueller added: “Improved connectivity via Dublin now allows us to significantly extend our markets into continental Europe while also enabling us to grow further in secondary UK markets from already solid positions.”