Aer Lingus profit forecast cut by 13 percent for 2013

Irish carrier Aer Lingus has started feeling the heat of intense competition by rival carrier in European short-haul markets and raised serious concerns about its profitability for the year.
 
Aer Lingus recently announced that it is cutting its profit forecast by 13 percent for the year 2013. The airline said that it is facing growing competition in short-haul markets in Europe. The airline’s rival Ryanair has also warned that its profitability might be impacted and it is considering similar steps.

Aer Lingus in a statement said that it expects its profits to be around $80.99 million (60 million Euros) for the year 2013. It said that it had earlier made a profitability forecast of $93.14 million (69 million Euros) for the year, which it had made at the end of July.

While making the forecast in July, Aer Lingus had reported weak bookings in the months of July and August because of unusually warm weather in Ireland. The airline had then announced that it hopes to overcome this and would make serious efforts to make up for that in the remaining months of the year.

Aer Lingus has now issued a statement saying that the pricing environment was intensely competitive. The statement said that the airline’s current booking profile for the rest of the year is now making it apparent and suggesting that in spite of more aggressive pricing in response to market conditions, it will not be possible to recover lost volumes. The airline has indicated that it is now planning to curtail short-haul capacity by at least 3 percent in the final three months of the year.