Losses at Flybe have widened to £40.7 million mainly due to its struggling UK division.
The regional carrier increased revenue by 15.1 per cent to £781.5 million for the financial year ending on March 31, 2013, boosted by the development of its Flybe Finland operation.
But this increase in sales could not stop Flybe recording the £40.7 million loss – up from a loss of £6.2 million in the previous year.
The UK division, which is currently undergoing major restructuring, made a loss of £32.5 million for the year compared to a loss of £2.2 million during 2011/12. Revenue in the UK also fell by 2.2 per cent to £575.2 million for the year.
Despite these losses, investors reacted positively to Flybe's announcement that it would be able to find further cost savings over the next two years - the airline's shares rose by as much as 10 per cent to 45 pence on the London Stock Exchange
Flybe’s chief executive Jim French said: “Our results for 2012/13, while expected, are nonetheless disappointing. During the year, we have taken difficult decisions as part of our turnaround plan, which have affected all our people.
“Challenging as they have been, these decisions were critical to ensuring the future success of Flybe.
“As outlined above, our turnaround plan has involved considerable efforts to reduce the cost base of the business. Inevitably, and sadly, this process has to date involved the departure of around 490 people from the business.”
As well as making job cuts, Flybe has raised £20 million through the sale of its slots at Gatwick to Easyjet while a deal has been struck with pilots’ union Balpa for its members to take a 5 per cent pay cut in return for more time off.
French added: “Flybe remains Europe's largest independent regional airline, flying over 200 routes from more than 100 airports across 23 countries.
“We have a leading brand, a strong reputation for service excellence and a standing amongst our peers that means we can, and do, undertake business with all the major airline groups in Europe.”
Flybe carried 7.2 million passengers in the UK during 2012/13, which was down by 1.1 per cent on the previous year. Seat capacity was cut by 2.7 per cent to 11.3 million over the same period while load factor improved by 1 percentage point to 64.1 per cent.
flybe.com