WHY FLYBE HAD 4 MILLION EMPTY SEATS LAST YEAR

Flybe was founded in 1979 as Jersey European Airways. It became Flybe in 2002

Flybe floated on the London Stock Exchange in December 2010, with a value of £215m

In 2013, after racking up losses, former EasyJet boss Saad Hammad became chief executive, cut 30pc of its staff and sold off unprofitable airline slots

Flybe underwent a major brand change and painted some of its aircraft purple in 2014

It posted its first full-year profit in six years in June 2016, but in October Hammad was ousted

Christine Ourmieres-Widener, the former boss of CityJet, became new chief and a profit warning followed

EMBATTLED airline Flybe reported a £20m loss after slowing customer demand saw it struggle to fill seats.

The regional carrier flew 8.8m passengers in the year to the end of March, despite growing its capacity to accommodate 12.7m.

It swung into a loss of £19.9m as a result, compared with a profit of £2.7m the year before, exacerbated by a £4.8m writedown as part of an overhaul of its IT systems.

The firm, which saw revenues rise 13.4pc to £707.4m, also warned that it expects to take a further £6m hit of charges from cancelling existing contracts in the next financial year.

It comes as Flybe’s new boss, Christine Ourmieres-Widener, embarks on a turnaround to bolster profits after the company struggled after a series of costly mistakes under former boss Saad Hammad, including running too many loss-making routes and failed joint ventures. She said the firm will be cutting its fleet and revamping its website.

Shares rose 1.5pc, or 0.5p, to 33.5p.