Beast from the East wreaks havoc on Flybe revenue with £4m hit

THE poor weather in February and March will cost Flybe £4 million in lost revenue, the airline has said, as it reported an otherwise strong performance throughout the winter.

Flybe, which is in the midst of a turnaround, was forced to cancel 994 flights across Europe in the last two months as airports were closed by heavy snowfall.

The impact of the cancellations will be reflected in Flybe’s full-year results given how late the issues came in its financial year, which ended on March 31.

In the first three months of 2018 Flybe’s strategy of reducing capacity was reflected in a six per cent fall in scheduled seats, to 2.7 million, with passenger numbers up 3.7% to two million, giving a load factor of 73.5%, up 6.8 percentage points on the previous year.

Estimated passenger revenue per seat was up by 9% to £50.84.

And Exeter-based Flybe said early indications of summer trading were encouraging as the group focuses on flying profitable routes after reducing capacity.

A total of 21% of first half capacity has been sold, against 20% at the same time last year.

Flybe earlier this year pulled out of a number of routes it launched last year in direct competition to its former franchise partner Loganair. The routes included three into Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands.

Christine Ourmieres-widener, Flybe chief executive, said: “The Flybe strategy as set out in our business plan to reduce the fleet size is delivering higher load factors and revenue per seat.

“The drive to reduce costs is continuing, given added impetus by the rise in fuel prices and lower value of sterling. Despite these headwinds, the foundations are being put in place to strengthen the business and we remain confident that our strategy will continue to improve performance as we go into the new financial year.”

Flybe issued a profit warning in November after incurring higher-than-expected aircraft maintenance costs. This came after slower consumer demand and over-capacity sent Flybe swinging to a £19.9m loss last year.

Shares in the group rocketed in February when haulage group Stobart said it was weighing a potential approach airline. But last month Stobart said it does not intend to make a bid for Flybe after failing to agree “satisfactory terms” with the airline, sending shares back to their level prior to the interest.

Shares closed down 0.3p last night, at 33.2p