LONDON (Alliance News) - UK regional airline Flybe Group PLC on Thursday said its results for the year to the end of March are set to hit expectations as its load factor fell and passenger numbers were flat in the fourth quarter.
Flybe said its passenger volumes in the quarter to the end of March were flat at 1.8 million, with passenger revenue also flat year-on-year.
Its load factor for the quarter, however, dipped to 68%, down two percentage points year-on-year.
Flybe said its seat capacity in the fourth quarter increased 2.4%, a lower rate than previously in response to the terror attacks which hit Paris in November and the subsequent impact on travel in Europe.
Flybe said this helped to mitigate lower load factors in the fourth quarter and meant yields for the fourth quarter were stable.
Trading for summer 2016 is on track, Flybe said, with additional capacity selling through as planned.
"Against the background of the highest level of market capacity growth for six years driven by low fuel prices, we continue to be disciplined in deploying our capacity, focusing investment on routes where airport partners provide cost mitigation and those which adhere strictly to our business model. We are also continuing to reduce unit cost, which provides margin resilience, as well as reviewing our capacity growth rate beyond this summer," said Chief Executive Saad Hammad.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
