Flybe’s Return To Growth Continues Despite Pressure From Paris Terrorist Attacks
In January the company was named the Best Short Haul Airline at the 2016 Business Travel Awards.
The company said its return to growth delivered in the year’s first half continued in Q3 despite the reduction in travel after the events in Paris in November which placed pressure on “industry wide capacity growth acceleration and lower fuel costs”.
Seat capacity in the period grew by 10.1% to 2.8m seats in comparison to the prior year’s quarter of 2.5m through the use of new aircraft and partnerships. Passenger volumes increased by 2.1% to 1.92m from 1.88m passengers in Q3 2014/15. Overall the growth in passenger numbers drove an increase in passenger revenue to £128.9m from 124.4m in Q3 2014/15, a 3.6% increase.
Flybe said it was focusing on yield protection and accelerated some of its cost saving initiatives, whilst reducing planned fourth quarter capacity growth by c10ppts.
Saad Hammad, the Chief Executive Officer of the regional airline said:
“The tragic events in Paris overshadowed this last quarter and caused a significant hiatus in airline bookings, not just to France, but also on UK domestic and near-continent travel. As we expected, the combination of higher capacity in the market and lower spot fuel prices have led to lower yields sector-wide, even as the benefits start to come through from the unwinding of fuel price hedging. In this uncertain environment, we decided to protect yields rather than to chase unprofitable marginal revenue.
“As a result, revenue has grown by 3.6%, and this, together with continued reductions in unit costs, reinforces our resilience as a business, now that all legacy issues have been resolved. Passenger demand is now slowly recovering and reflecting a later booking profile. Meanwhile, it is encouraging that our focus on business travellers is increasingly recognised as being amongst the best in the industry.”
Flybe’s noted that its focus on business travellers is being recognised after it won the Best Short Haul Airline award at the 2016 Business Travel Awards beating rivals easyJet and British Airways.
