Ireland's Aer Lingus earns 233 mln euros last year

Ireland's flag carrier airline Aer Lingus earned operating profits of 233 million euros last year, up 87.9 percent year on year from a year ago, according to the airline's annual results on Friday.

The results, published by the airline's parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), showed that the airline's capacity was increased 9.6 percent with the introduction of two additional Airbus A330s to support Aer Lingus' longhaul expansion, including new destinations such as Los Angeles and Newark.

But the airline's passenger yields were down, due to significant industry pressure, it said.

The airline said the increase in operating profit reflects the benefit of a lower fuel price environment and cost savings, partially offset by the revenue weakness.

IAG's chief executive Willie Walsh said Aer Lingus looks forward to competing on transatlantic routes with low-cost airline Norwegian.

He said Aer Lingus will compete on price and service and offers a very different product to what Norwegian is offering.

On Thursday, Norwegian announced a series of groundbreaking new transatlantic flights from three Irish cities, offering passengers low-cost travel to the United States from just 69 euros.

Starting from July 1, Norwegian will operate the first ever transatlantic flights from Cork with a service to Providence Airport, Rhode Island, together with new U.S. routes from Shannon and Dublin to New York's Stewart International Airport and Providence. Endit