Flybe Q3 'solid', sees slow start to Q4

(ShareCast News) - Flybe said on Monday that it delivered a solid third quarter in tough trading conditions, but the fourth quarter has kicked off slowly due to "uncertain" customer confidence and poor weather.In the third quarter, it saw passenger growth of 13.5% versus 5.7% in the first half, while seat capacity growth slowed to 12.7% from 13.5% in H1. The passenger yield grew 2.8% versus a 2% decrease in the first half and the load factor - which gauges how full the planes are - dropped 1.7 percentage points compared to a 4.3 percentage point drop in the first half.Flybe saw a 0.2% increase in passenger revenue per seat compared to a 6.9% decline in the first half.The airline said that as planned, four additional Q400 aircraft were added to the fleet during the quarter and the final four will be delivered in the last quarter, which will complete the NAC transaction and represents the peak in fleet size. UK regional connectivity will be increased with new routes between Edinburgh, Aberdeen and London Heathrow, which commence on 26 March. These routes will allow for connectivity with Flybe's codeshare partners, including Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic as well as interline connections with United Airlines, Delta, Qantas, TAP and Cathay Pacific. Also as previously, Christine Ourmieres-Widener joined as the company's new chief executive officer on 16 January.In the three weeks into the fourth quarter, Flybe has seen an 11% increase in passenger revenue versus the previous year, a 13% jump in seat capacity and 1% drop in yield. Meanwhile, 38% of the seats were sold, in line with the year before, while revenue per seat decreased 1%.Ourmieres-Widener said: "I have only just started work as CEO at Flybe. However, everything I have seen so far confirms my excitement at the opportunity we have to become the best regional airline in Europe. There is much to be done, but we have the firm foundations needed to develop the business. My first priority is to look to rebuild passenger unit revenue and to challenge all our costs. This will be assisted by Flybe becoming an even more customer-focussed business as we achieve greater control over our fleet size."At 0827 GMT, the shares were down 2.2% to 44.50p.