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Flybe soars back into profit

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Budget European airline Flybe, the biggest operator from Birmingham Airport, has flown back into profit as its major turnaround programme stays on course.

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Figures for the first half of Flybe's year show revenue growth too, up £31.8 million to £339.6m, as it swung back to a £22.9m profit after racking up a £3.3m loss at the same point a year ago.

It comes after Flybe announced it had sorted out its last 'major legacy issue' by completing its Project Blackbird scheme handling its surplus E195 jets.

In the UK Flybe saw revenue rise 11.2% as it increased the number of seats on its flights to 5.9 million. Passenger numbers rose 10.2% to 4.5 million.

As part of its long term strategy Flybe operates on regional routes that mainstream airlines cannot operate profitably, and give regional customers, particularly those travelling on business, a better alternative to rail, road and other airlines and save them time.

The company said it had completed the first three chapters of its four part transformation: relaunching the business witht a stronger balance sheet, modernising its brand and handling its major legacy issues while returning to growth. It is now focused on profitable growth.

Chief executive Saad Hammad said: "Our turnaround is on course with a very encouraging performance in the first half. We have returned to profit by delivering significant revenue growth through capacity investment and improved commercial execution, while reducing unit cost. We are also pleased to have resolved all our key legacy issues with the completion of Project Blackbird. The benefits from this will start to come through next financial year.

"Competitive pressures are expected to grow in the second half with industry-wide benefit from lower fuel costs and growth in seat capacity. Against this backdrop, we are remaining disciplined in cost control and our capacity growth plans. Our focus will be on building service frequency on our established routes to maximise our appeal to time-sensitive business travellers.

"While there are still a number of challenges ahead, Flybe enters the winter season with solid momentum".