Flybe is planning expansion in Europe after making its first annual profit as a public company.
The regional carrier made a pre-tax profit of £2.7 million for the financial year to the end of March – compared with a loss of £23.6 million in the previous year. The turnaround came despite the impact of the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels.
Flybe managed to grow revenue by 8.7 per cent from £574.1 million to £623.8 million as passenger sales rose by 8.2 per cent to £571.7 million, with the airline increasing UK capacity by 9.7 per cent to 11.3 million seats.
The airline said it had “now created a platform to expand further in Europe” after making its first profit since its flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 2010.
CEO Saad Hammad said that airline’s performance has been “very encouraging” as it begins the final year of its three-year transformation plan.
“As a result of all the action we have taken, Flybe is now a much more resilient business and well positioned for profitable growth,” added Hammad.
“We are well placed to navigate the current industry challenges with the strongest balance sheet in our history and a disciplined organisation which is already taking cost and capacity actions to support profit growth in the coming year.
“As we enter the final year of our turnaround, we have set down strong foundations for the future and made good progress in transforming Flybe into a sustainable, world-class regional European airline.”