According to the third-quarter report released by Aer Lingus, the Irish airline, the company has incurred a 10% fall in profits for the July-September period for the current year as compared to last year.

Although, as confirmed by the figures revealed by the carrier, the number of passengers for the said duration saw a 7% increase, there was a fall in revenue because of the fact that the airline was forced to reduce its short-distance fares by as much as 12%. Exact revenue figures, however, have not been published by the airline.

Forced by the current financial situation to take some drastic measures, Aer Lingus, in October, announced that it would be cutting as many as 800 jobs under a newly published emergency business plan. Pay rate cuts were also announced with the aim to save 97 Million Euros by 2011. Chief Executive, Christoph Mueller has been honest in sharing that the company currently has a 50-50 survival chance.

Currently, Aer Lingus, which has its UK base at the Belfast International Airport, operates flights to 11 destinations across Europe.