PROGRESS

Loganair has seen its turnover break through £100 million despite reporting a dip in annual profits.

Releasing its first set of results since parting company with franchise partner Flybe, the Glasgow-based airline also said that passenger numbers had increased by 8.6 per cent to an all-time high of 765,091, with 62.8 per cent of seats filled on scheduled services.

The figures for the year to the end of March 2017 show that there was an 8 per cent increase in turnover from £95.3m to £103.0m – the first time the carrier’s revenues have exceeded £100m.

Pre-tax profits of £3.06m were down 11 per cent from the £3.6m booked in the previous year as the airline pumped money into improving its “operational reliability”.

Chairman David Harrison said that as a result of the carrier’s re-branding, start-up costs of new contracts and the “advent of competition on a number of routes”, Loganair expects to be loss-making in the current financial year.

“To safeguard our ongoing programme of investment,

0 Loganair managing director Jonathan Hinkles: ‘successful transition’

JONATHAN HINKLES, MD existing facilities with Clydesdale Bank have been renewed, and Loganair’s shareholders have advanced a £3m loan,” he noted.

Punctuality increased over the period under review, with 80 per cent of flights departing within 15 minutes of schedule – the industry standard. This helped raise Loganair to third place in the UK airlines punctuality league table, up nine places from the previous year.

Several existing public service obligation routes were re-awarded during the year, including the Orkney interisles service, which the airline has operated for the last 50 years, and which includes the world’s shortest scheduled passenger flight connecting Westray and Papa Westray.

The Dundee to London Stansted and Stornoway to Benbecula routes were also renewed.

A new and enlarged fiveyear contract with Royal Mail began in February, with Loganair now being Royal Mail’s only aviation provider within its intra-scotland network. Two Saab 340 aircraft

“We have made a successful transition from franchise partner to operating under our own brand.”