AER LINGUS has reported a year-on-year increase in its passenger numbers for September 2012.

The airline carried a total of 1.02 million passengers across all services last month, including its regional operations operated by Aer Arann.

Mainline passenger numbers stood at 926,000, down by 0.9 per cent on last year, led by a 1.4 per cent drop in the number of short haul passengers to 829,000.

The number of long-haul passengers was up by 4.3 per cent to 97,000, while the numbers on regional services were up by 36.8 per cent to 93,000.

Passenger load factors – the proportion of seats filled on the airline’s increased by 1.3 per cent to 84.4 per cent. Load factor on short-haul flights was up by 0.5 per cent to 81.4, though this was in some part down to a decrease in the airline’s overall capacity by 0.9 per cent.

Long-haul load factor was 90.7 per cent, up by 3.0 per cent on the equivalent month last year.

The Irish government is currently seeking to sell its 25 per cent stake in the airline.