**Irish Airline Aer Lingus has reported a big increase in losses for the first half of the year as it was forced to cut fares during the downturn.**The company lost 73.9m euros ($105.3m; £65m) in the six months to the end of June, more than three times the 21.6m euros it lost a year earlier.
Revenue fell to 555m euros, down 12.2% on the 632m it made a year ago.
The main reasons for the drop in revenue were a 17% fall in average fares and an increase in fuel costs.
“Aer Lingus expects that the continuation of the current market trends in Ireland will lead to further sustained and significant fare pressure,” the company said.
“This dynamic and very challenging environment contributes to a highly uncertain outlook.”