Finnish JV helps Flybe scale new heights
FLYBE, the largest airline in terms of traffic movement at both Birmingham Airport and Manchester Airport, has seen revenue increase by almost 20%.
The airline that in the period to February 9, incorporating the third quarter ending December 31, 2011, total revenue under management increased 18.6% to £165.5m.
The performance was driven by Flybe’s entry into Continental Europe through Flybe Finland, a joint venture with Finnair.
Scheduled seats flown for the group, including those from Flybe Finland, were up 9.8% from 2.8m in Q3 2010/11 to 3m. Adjusting for the severe weather disruption in the UK in Q3 2010/11, the year-on-year (YOY) increase was 3.4%.
Net assets at December 31, 2011 were £102.8m, with total cash at £61.5m.
Flybe UK generated total revenues of £133.7m in Q3 2011/12, down 0.3% on Q3 2010/11. Seats flown were 2.75m, a decrease of 0.3%. Adjusting for the severe weather disruption in Q3 2010/11, the YOY decrease was 6.0%.
It said passenger numbers and load factor were comparable to Q3 2010/11 at 1.7m and 61.7% respectively, despite a UK domestic market which continues to be challenging.
Passenger yield was up by 0.1% to £76.90, while passenger revenue per seat rose 0.2% to £47.41.
The period also saw the airline take delivery of the first four Embraer E175 regional jets from an order of 35 placed in July 2010.
The company also maintained its leadership in the UK regional and domestic markets. The market share of the Flybe brand in the UK regional market (excluding London) in the 12 months to December 31, 2011 was 50.5%, up from 48.0% in the same period last year. Total domestic market share in the same period was 27.9%, up from 27%.
Jim French, Flybe’s chairman and chief executive, said: “Flybe UK continues to focus on a number of initiatives to increase revenue per seat, further reduce costs and ensure capacity is optimally matched to demand. The business has grown its market share and maintained its leadership position in the UK regional and domestic markets.
“The development of Flybe Finland, our new joint venture with Finnair, continues to progress well. This includes the expansion of scheduled services into Sweden and Denmark, as part of our plan to develop the business into the leading Regional carrier in Northern Europe.
“Although we expect market conditions to remain challenging, we have a robust and flexible business model and clear and achievable growth plans. We remain confident about Flybe’s long term future.”
Flybe will announce its preliminary full year results on June 11.
