Regional airline Flybe says it has seen growth in passenger revenue since making the decision to cut seat capacity on its routes.
Flybe reported an increase in load factor of 8.6 percentage points, as well as passenger revenue growth of 8.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2017. The airline reduced seat capacity by 4.2 per cent, resulting in revenue per seat rising by 13.3 per cent.
Despite the reduction in capacity, Flybe saw an 8.1 per cent increase in passenger numbers to 2.3 million. The carrier says its focus moving forward will be reducing costs and maintaining greater control over reliability.
The airline is handing back six of its leased aircraft this year, four of which have already been completed and the other two due to be returned before the end of March. Under a dry lease arrangement with Stobart Air, Flybe is operating two E195 jets from Southend airport.
In addition, the airline is implementing a new digital platform that is expected to be in operation in the second half of 2018/19, which it says will enhance the customer booking experience.
Christine Ourmieres-Widener, CEO of Flybe, said: “We are making strong progress against our sustainable business improvement plan. During this quarter, we continued with our planned fleet and capacity reductions and delivered higher load factors, increased passenger numbers and strong unit revenue performance. We expect this improvement to continue, but at a slightly slower rate in the final quarter of the year. Our investment in maintenance to improve reliability is paying off, demonstrated by the fact that we are again ranked as the UK’s most punctual airline. As we continue to reduce our fleet size, but face the impact of higher fuel prices and reduced foreign exchange hedging gains, we are going to be even more focused on improving our cost base.”
flybe.com