Flybe has warned that 2017 has started slowly, after the airline endured a turbulent 2016 blamed on bad weather and poor consumer confidence.
The carrier reported promising passenger revenue growth of 13.5pc in the third quarter to the end of December last, compared to 5.7pc in the first half of the year, which helped to offset the impact of falling numbers of passengers per flight.
But Flybe warned that so far this year, “uncertain customer confidence and poor weather have contributed to a slow start to this quarter”.
The airline – which serves routes into Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Ireland West – has struggled to fill its planes because of rising competition and falling demand after growing the size of its fleet. For the first half of the financial year its pre-tax profits slumped 25pc to £15.9m as lower demand for travel across Europe failed to keep pace with Flybe’s growing fleet.
New Flybe CEO Christine Ourmieres-Widener said her first priority was to rebuild the revenue earned per passenger and challenge the airline’s existing costs.
Christine Ourmières, CEO of Flybe
She 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.”
The carrier’s load factor has continued to fall from 68.9pc full to 67.2pc for the final months of last year.
Flybe has added four extra return flights on two of its most popular Dublin routes specifically those to and from Exeter and Southampton over the St Patrick’s Day weekend on 16th March, 17th and 19th March to accommodate the joint demand from those wanting to celebrate the national holiday, as well as from those travelling to Dublin for what’s anticipated to be a crunch Six Nations Rugby match between Ireland and England on Saturday, March 18th.
With these additional services, the airline will now offer a total choice of 62 flights between Dublin and four UK airports over the extended St Patrick’s Day weekend from four UK airports, the others being from Cardiff and Doncaster Sheffield.
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