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Flybe losses treble
Flybe has announced an adjusted pre-tax loss of £19.2 million for the year to the end of March, which it blamed on additional maintenance costs, an ‘onerous’ IT contract, reduced hedging gains and the Beast from the East weather phenomenon in the fourth quarter of the year.
The loss was three times higher than its loss in 2016/17, despite a 7.7% increase in passengers to 9.5 million.
However, the airline said the initial stage of its Sustainable Business Improvement Plan had delivered ‘significantly’ improved commercial performance. It said its load factor was up six percentage points to 75.6% and its revenue has risen 10.1% per seat to £71.15.
It said its reports loss was in line with market expectations.
Group revenue was up 6.4% to £752.6 million and the Group’s net debt fell from £64 million last year to £59.1 million.
Following a fleet review in March, the airline has confirmed it will remove nine loss-making larger E195 jets from its fleet by the first quarter of 2020/21.
CEO Christine Ourmieres-Widener said: "Flybe has made significant progress during my first full year as CEO. With our fleet size under control, we are already delivering improvements to passenger yield, load factors and revenue.
"Our Sustainable Business Improvement Plan, launched last year, is enhancing the business in a number of key areas including, network decision-making, revenue management and commercial performance. Profitability has however been impacted by higher maintenance costs, IT investment and the poor weather in the final quarter.
"We now have a new senior management team in place, with greater aviation experience, and we are all focused on delivering the business plan through continued improvements to revenue, a renewed focus on cost reduction and therefore achieving profitability."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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