www.flybe.com

EXCELENT UPDATE AND ON TRACK......

BRIEF-Flybe fourth quarter trading in line with expectations

04 Apr 2014 - 07:10
LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) –
Performed in line with expectations through final quarter of year ended 31 march 2014
Passenger volumes grew 6% year- on-year to 1.6m
Total cash at year end was £218m
Source text for Eikon: [nRSD0553Ea] Further company coverage: [FLYB.L]
(London Equities Newsroom; +44 20 7542 7717)
Keywords: FLYBEGROUP/BRIEF

Flybe soars on turnaround

A trading update from regional airline Flybe (FLYB) has been welcomed by the markets which have been watching the Exeter-based carrier’s self-help strategy with interest. Shares in the £306 million cap are up 4% at 146.8p on the announcement. Over the past year, they’ve ascended 217% as the group takes tough decisions needed to transform its fortunes.
Despite the large gains, it’s worth bearing in mind that Flybe’s share price is still some 18% lower than three years ago and considerably below its 295p flotation price in December 2010.
We highlighted the stock earlier this year as a potential takeover target.



The 4 April trading update, ahead of full-year results on 11 June, reveal 6% growth in passenger volumes to 1.6 million in the fourth quarter despite a 4% reduction in capacity. Load factors increased to 70% in the period which Flybe attributes to its competitive pricing strategy. Higher passenger volumes more than offset lower yields, leading to a 4% increase in passenger revenue per seat to £49.80.
Forward sales are also looking encouraging with 20% of Summer 2014 seat capacity sold at 31 March 2014, compared with 17% at 31 March 2013.
Encouragingly, the eight new routes launched in February from Birmingham, have exceeded expectations with 30% of Summer 2014 seat capacity already sold. Flybe now offers 126 Summer routes and 2,600 flights a week across the UK and Europe.
While the figures continue to improve, Flybe’s Turnaround Plan (unveiled in January and May 2013) and its Immediate Actions initiative (launched in November 2013) are ticking over nicely and delivery of phases 1 and 2 of these plans remains on track. In the 2013/14 year, a total of £47 million was delivered in savings with a further £71 million expected to be delivered in cost-cutting in the 2014/2015 year.
When the group reports in June investors will be keen to see how Flybe’s brand relaunch, which was unveiled this month, is playing with customers. Initatives include a new strapline (‘The fastest way from A to Flybe’) as well as a new marketing and TV advertising campaign and what the airline is describing as a ‘a world-first 60:60 On Time Guarantee.’ This promises passengers that if a flight
arrives more than 60 minutes late at its destination due to a delay within Flybe’s control, they will qualify for a £60 voucher towards their next flight if they book it within 60 days.

Date: 04-04-2014 12:50

Bought in earlier following the RNS yesterday.

London City Airport Expansion
RNS
RNS Number : 2943F
Flybe Group PLC
23 April 2014







Flybe Group plc

("Flybe" or "the Group")



Flybe announceS MAJOR EXPANSION WITH five year deal at London City Airport



· Routes to/from London City to provide UK regions and Ireland with direct access to the Capital

· New routes from/to Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Inverness and Exeter to commence 27 October 2014, on sale now



In a major expansion that will see the airline significantly boost connectivity between the UK regions and Ireland to and from London, Flybe is delighted to announce that it has signed a five-year agreement with London City Airport (LCY) to commence domestic and international operations to/from London City with effect from 27 October 2014. Routes are on sale immediately.



Flybe will deploy five growth aircraft for its LCY operation. The aircraft will be based at three of its regional bases, and are expected to fly up to circa 500,000 passengers annually on a schedule that will see four times daily services from/to Edinburgh and Dublin, three times daily services from/to Belfast and Exeter and twice daily from/to Inverness.



These new Flybe routes will boost connectivity from the UK regions to London, providing direct links for customers in the regions to the heart of London's financial district. Flybe expects the new routes will also appeal to a significant number of City and Canary Wharf-based passengers who need to access the UK regions and neighbouring European destinations quickly and efficiently. For these customers whose travel plans are time-critical, Flybe's new services from LCY will prove especially convenient, being significantly faster overall than travelling via Heathrow or Gatwick, or travelling by road or rail. Routes to Edinburgh and Dublin are expected to be in particular demand.



Regional core services within the UK and from/to Ireland will be supplemented with off-peak leisure flights to selected Ski, Regional French and Northern Spanish destinations. More information about these routes will be announced in the coming weeks. Flights between LCY and Edinburgh, Belfast City, Dublin, Inverness and Exeter are now on sale at www.flybe.com



The agreement with LCY follows on from Flybe's successful launch of eight new routes from Birmingham and a further four new routes launched from London Southend with franchise partner, Stobart Air. It is also a major step forward in meeting the Group's stated strategic objective to expand its branded scheduled commercial operation by developing new routes and bases within the UK following its successful fund raise of £150 million last month.



Saad Hammad, Chief Executive Officer, Flybe, commented:



"Today's announcement is a significant landmark in the re-birth of Flybe. We are delighted to re-enter the London market at London's most convenient airport following a rigorous profitability analysis utilising our strict route assessment model.



"Dedicating five growth aircraft initially to these new routes is a major statement of intent and we look forward to building a successful and growing presence there over the coming years.



"Flybe is today already connecting over 7 million passengers a year across the UK and Europe. With a major London connection, we reaffirm our place as the UK's largest regional airline."



Declan Collier, Chief Executive Officer, London City Airport, confirmed the importance of the arrival of Flybe at the airport:



"London City Airport (LCY) is poised for significant growth in the next ten years - growth that will see it achieve 120,000 flight movements per annum, with an associated 6 million passengers by 2023.



"Today's announcement is an extremely important step on that journey - Flybe will bring an immediate uplift of up to half a million new passengers to the airport. In addition, Flybe's selection of routes serves to cement further LCY's status as the business traveller's airport of choice, underpinned by our 'location, convenience and speed' customer propositions.



"We look forward to a long and successful partnership."



23 April 2014

From the Daily Telegraph:

Flybe, the UK regional airline which recently raised £150m to fund a “rebirth”, is staging a significant return to the London market, announcing five routes out of City Airport from October.
The airline is targeting business travellers with fares starting from £34.99 one-way to destinations including Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter and Inverness.
The move, which will see Flybe compete with much bigger rivals including British Airways on key business routes such as London-to-Edinburgh, comes after the embattled regional airline practically withdrew from the UK capital last year when it announced the sale of 25 Gatwick take-off and landing slots to easyJet for £20m.
Flybe’s new chief executive Saad Hammad, who was parachuted in last August to turn the company around, has maintained flights from Gatwick to Newquay in Cornwall, while the carrier will also start operating from Southend in Essex this summer, but he said the expansion at City Airport represents a “big return to London”. “It’s a statement of intent,” Mr Hammad said.
Mr Hammad insisted Flybe’s 78-seater Bombardier turboprop aircraft would allow the airline to compete effectively on the routes. The carrier had developed into one of the highest unit cost carriers in the world but Mr Hammad has been pushing through an aggressive turnaround and cost-cutting strategy, which has involved the loss of 450 jobs.

“At this airport we are going to have a viable cost base,” Mr Hammad reassured.
The new routes will start in October under a five-year agreement with City Airport and Flybe claims that they will be “significantly faster overall” than travelling via Heathrow and Gatwick, or by road and rail.
Gerald Khoo, airlines analyst at Liberum, pointed out the routes represent the first deployment of Flybe’s recent £150m fundraising, designed to strengthen its balance sheet and fuel profitable growth.
Shares in Flybe rose in early trading on Wednesday although the group’s share price remains well below its 2010 flotation price of 295p a share.

Flybe strengthens management team
StockMarketWire.com
Flybe has unveiled senior operational management appointments and a new non-executive director as it continues to build on the successful progress of its turnaround and growth plan following the raising of £150m.

Sir Timothy (Timo) Anderson will join the board as a non-executive director with effect from 1 May. As an Air Marshal, he established the Military Aviation Authority (the body responsible for military aviation safety), becoming its first director general from 2010 to 2013, and before that was Assistant Chief of Royal Air Force Air Staff.

He served in the Royal Air Force from 1979, starting as a fighter pilot, and rising through senior command appointments. He was awarded a DSO for RAF Tornado operations during the Kosovo conflict and was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2013 New Year Honours list.

Flybe also announced new appointments to strengthen its senior management team. Maunu Visuri has been appointed managing director of Flybe Finland, the Finnish operating company in the Flybe Nordic Joint Venture between Flybe and Finnair. Visuri is currently CEO of Nordic Global Airlines, white label cargo carrier based in Helsinki, Finland, jointly owned by four parties including Finnair. Prior to this, he held several senior management roles with Finnair, within technical services, aircraft finance and fleet management.

He will commence his new role on 20 May , and will report directly to the Board of Flybe Nordic. His focus will be on delivering sustainable cost reductions and delivering profit growth across all of Flybe Finland's white label and scheduled flying operations.

Jochen Schnadt has taken up the role of Interim Director of White Label Business Development with effect from 14 April, initially on a six month assignment. Reporting directly to Saad Hammad, he will lead on the development of white label opportunities, a key part of Flybe's twin engine growth strategy as it seeks to expand white label services to national flag carriers across Europe. He has previously delivered a number of white label projects for Virgin, BA and other airlines as MD of an independent consultancy. He has also held senior leadership and commercial roles with Monarch Airlines and Aer Lingus.

Flybe is also upgrading and making new appointments to two existing roles as the group continues to improve commerciality and customer relations, and strengthen corporate governance. Andrew McConnell commenced on 7 April as director of communications and public affairs, reporting directly to chief commercial officer Paul Simmons. A member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, McConnell brings a wealth of experience from the travel industry with a background in corporate and public affairs for major companies such as Heathrow Express and Gatwick Express. Finally, Flybe is pleased to welcome Annelie Carver as general counsel and company secretary, following Chris Simpson's decision to leave the group after eight years' service. Carver is currently a partner in the corporate and commercial team at Michelmores Solicitors, and has over 12 years' experience advising listed and unlisted clients on company, commercial and contractual matters. Carver will join Flybe once she has agreed a departure date from Michelmores. Until she joins Flybe, Andrew Knuckey will act as company secretary.

It's time authorities introduced stiffer penalties for drunks who behave like this.

Virgin flight in hijack scare




Virgin Australia has dismissed reports that one of its planes was hijacked by a passenger and forced to land in Bali.

It said initial reports on Indonesia television of a hijack were "completely incorrect" and that the passenger concerned was simply drunk and had tried to storm the cockpit.


A spokeswoman for the airline said the unarmed passenger had been handcuffed by crew and restrained in a seat at the back of flight VA41 from Brisbane.


According to reports, troops has boarded the plane on arrival and the passenger, a 28-year-old Australian, was arrested.


All 137 passengers and seven crew were evacuated unharmed.


"At no point was the safety of the aircraft in question," said a Virgin Australia statement.

Flybe puts 1.8 million winter seats on sale


By Phil Davies | 29 April 2014 at 08.38 GMT

Almost two million tickets have gone on sale today (Tuesday) in the first phase of Flybe’s winter 2014 schedule.

An initial 1.8 million seats are available from across the UK to 35 domestic destinations, France, Holland and Germany.

The winter schedule announcement follows the airline’s five-year agreement with London City Airport to start five routes from October 27 to Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter and Inverness.

Winter flights lead in at £24.99 one-way from Birmingham to Newquay.

Further announcements on the winter schedule will be released in the coming weeks, the airline said.

The airline’s chief commercial officer Paul Simmons said: “We expect our winter schedule to be extremely popular with those looking for affordable priced and convenient flights especially during key travel period such a school holidays and the festive period.

“Dublin, Edinburgh and Paris are expected to be top sellers with winter travellers – especially business travellers, plus Cologne, Florence and Toulouse will be popular with customers seeking a cultural city break.”

An interesting week !

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, is celebrating the take-off on Saturday 17th May 2014 of its inaugural flight to Newquay Cornwall Airport from London Southend Airport, operating the three times a week summer service through to 27th September with one way fares from £20.99 including taxes and charges.



To mark the landmark event Flybe today positioned a surf simulator machine at Exchange Square adjacent to Liverpool Street train station for commuters and
local office workers to get into the holiday spirit and try out their best surf moves.

Paul Simmons, Flybe Chief Commercial Officer, commented: “In celebrating this first flight, we decided to bring some Flybe fun to the commuters and travellers using Liverpool Street Station and its environs. The surf simulator looks set to be a big hit and I hope it sparks some enthusiasm for those who see it to consider riding the crest of some real Newquay waves this summer.

“Newquay marks an exciting start to our network from London Southend as it’s an important tourism route that connects the popular southwest coast with the capital. It also offers a quick and convenient alternative to lengthy road or rail journeys, perfectly proving that we are ‘the fastest way from A to Flybe’!”






London Southend Airport Operations Director, David Lister added: "We are delighted to welcome Flybe back to London Southend Airport, especially as they are resurrecting the route to Newquay that,operated by another carrier in summer 2013, proved so popular with people across London and Essex, plus also with Cornish people travelling to London. We are also pleased that Flybe selected London’s newest airport - London Southend - to operate this important route, which will provide quick and easy connections to the City in just 53 minutes by train. We look forward to developing our relationship with Flybe as our route network expands in 2014."

About Flybe flights London Southend - Newquay Airport:
•Operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 17th May – 27th September.
•One way fares from £20.99 including taxes and charges
•Flights depart Newquay at 1105 and arrive London Southend at 1225
•Flights depart London Southend at 12:50 and arrive Newquay at 1410

Flybe Announces Eight New Routes For Winter From Birmingham

20th May 2014

Including two brand new routes to Hamburg and Oslo with choice of up to 14 flights a week and year-round extension of six new summer routes

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, will operate two new routes from Birmingham Airport this winter namely a daily service to Hamburg and Oslo from 26th October through to 27th March 2015. Seats are on sale from today (20th May 2014) at www.flybe.com with one way fares from £39.99 including taxes and charges.

Already Birmingham Airport’s largest carrier, the airline has also announced (20th May 2014) that, due to early successes, it will extend to year-round on six of the new routes it is operating this summer. Flybe will continue to operate up to 28 weekly flights to Cologne, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Florence and Oporto with frequency aimed to provide convenience for business travellers and those passengers wanting a short break on the continent. Due to the popularity of its summer twilight flights to Reykjavik, it’s also moving this three times a week service to daytime flying, also with effect from 26th October.

The move is estimated to result in Flybe carrying an additional 100,000 passengers a year at Birmingham Airport. Altogether, it’s another exciting week for Flybe in Birmingham as its last four remaining inaugural flights for summer take off to Newquay, Bordeaux, Palma and Toulouse.

Fred Kochak, Flybe’s UK Routes Director, said: “We said we would be investing in a major way at Birmingham and it is now our largest ever base. Today’s announcement gives additional weight to that commitment and I’m delighted that, as a result of the Flybe route assessment model, we have been able to add even more destinations as well as choice for our Midlands’ business and leisure passengers.”

William Pearson, Birmingham Airport’s Aviation Development Director, added:
“Flybe’s Birmingham route network is going from strength to strength after announcing nine new routes already this year and becoming our largest carrier.

“Oslo is another new destination for us and we’re very pleased that Flybe is recognising the need to serve these markets and satisfy demand to give business and leisure travellers the destinations that they want from Birmingham Airport.”

Fred Kochak added: “Flybe already connects more than 1.5 million passengers a year from Birmingham both domestically and throughout Europe. Today's news further demonstrates our commitment to providing direct air-links from the regions of the UK, which means passengers do not have to face long road or rail journeys to south east hub airports.”


In total, Flybe will operate up to 350 flights a week from Birmingham on 26 routes as part of its 2014-15 winter schedule.

New flights to Europe are hit for Flybe
.
6:25pm Thursday 22nd May 2014 in News.

New European destinations proving popular

ALMOST 10,000 tickets have been sold for new routes from Southend Airport.

Flybe, operated by Stobart Air, reports strong interest in routes to Groningen, Muster Osnabruck and Rennes which commence on June 5.

Services to Cologne Bonn, Caen Normandie and Antwerp start on July 3 and from July 10 the Maastricht route will come into operation. Monday was the busiest day yet for advance ticket bookings.

Simon Fagan, chief commercial officer for Stobart Air, said: “With almost 10,000 tickets already sold, we are on course to meet our target of carrying up to 700,000 passengers on our new London Southend routes within three years.




“Weekend bookings are quite popular and we are seeing a surge in weekday bookings as the launch day approaches.”

He added “These three routes are clearly resonating with both business and leisure passengers in Southend. Münster in Germany is a vibrant city that is home to thousands of university students.

Roger Clements, the airport’s managing director, said “We are very encouraged by the growing demand for the three routes commencing on 5 June. This bookings surge proves that London Southend is continuing to become a popular travel hub for both continental and London bound passengers. As the popularity of London Southend grows we hope that these recent route expansions will bring a boost to the economy to the local area.”

Ready for another leg up? Sizeable buy order being worked through in 300s since this morning.

Someone building a sizeable position here in 300 lots the last two days.

Looks ready to test the April highs again. Final results due out in the next few weeks.

Flybe welcomes APD debate in Scottish parliament


03 June 2014 at 08.03 GMT


Flybe has welcomed efforts to examine the issue of unfair Air Passenger Duty during a key debate in the Scottish parliament today (Tuesday).

The regional airline says that scrapping the controversial tax on air travel is long overdue and hopes Holyrood can make significant progress on the issue.

The Westminster government has made changes to APD banding, which will see a reduction in taxation of passengers travelling on long-haul flights from next year.

But Flybe believes more action is needed and continues to call on chancellor George Osborne to scrap the tax, which it claims hits consumers, harms tourism and hurts economic growth.

The airline believes that today’s debate in Scotland represents a fresh opportunity to examine the economic impact of the air tax.

Chief executive Saad Hammad (pictured) said: “We welcome today’s debate as an important step towards rectifying this taxation which places us, as a UK regional airline, at a competitive disadvantage and continues to damage Scotland’s aspirations for economic growth.

“Across the aviation industry, scrapping APD would not only incentivise airlines to provide new routes and enhance travel for Scotland’s passengers, it would also significantly boost business and the economy.”

He added: “Scottish business people and consumers have had to count the cost of paying this tax twice when travelling domestically to an English airport – a disproportionate financial penalty which must not be allowed to continue.

“New destinations going hand-in-hand with considerably more passengers can only mean one thing – growth – and the incentive to capitalise on Scotland’s rich tourism experience and established business sector, with more employment and investment, has to be a major consideration in today’s debate.”

Tipped in SCSW today evidently.

Yep should rocket monday morning.

Flybe takes off
StockMarketWire.com
Budget carrier Flybe announced a return to profit in the year to end-March, following a successful turnaround and record UK passenger numbers.

· 11.1% growth in Revenue under management to £868.4m (2012/13: £781.5m) driven by significant growth in white label revenue in Finland

· £620.5m of Group revenue, up by 1.0% (2012/13: £614.3m)

· Record passenger numbers and load factors in UK business

· 3.3% decrease in Group operating costs (excluding restructuring) at £619.5m (2012/13: £640.9m)

· Adjusted profit before tax, net restructuring and surplus capacity costs of £1.7m (2012/13: loss of £23.6m), with profit improvement across all areas of the business

· £8.1m of profit before tax (2012/13: loss before tax £41.1m)

· Operating cash inflow before restructuring of £7.3m (2012/13: cash outflow of £1.6m)

· Total cash of £218.4m at 31 March 2014 (2013: £54.7m), and net assets of £194.1m (2013: £48.1m)

· £150.1m net equity fund raise in March 2014 reflecting investor confidence in Flybe's future

OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Flybe UK:

· 6.9% increase in passenger numbers in UK scheduled airline at 7.7 million (2012/13: 7.2 million) despite 1.4% reduction in seat capacity

· Load factor of 69.5% (2012/13: 64.1%)

· 1.8% improvement in passenger revenue per seat at £49.70 (2012/13: £48.84)

· 55.1% sector share of UK regional market (2012/13: 52.4%)

· Operating from 7 UK bases and serving 64 airports in total throughout the UK and Europe**

· Major expansion announced at London City Flybe Finland:

· £247.9m of revenue in first full year of expanded Finnair joint venture operations (2012/13: £167.2m)

· Service standards and punctuality on and above target MRO:

· Profit before tax and restructuring £2.2m (2012/13: £0.7m)

· Operating costs down £6.6m to £33.2m (2012/13: £39.8m)

Saad Hammad, CEO, stated: "2013/14 marks the rebirth of Flybe!

"We implemented a turnaround plan to stabilise the business and then successfully raised over £150m net to strengthen our balance sheet and drive sustainable profitable growth. The return to profitability is a great step forwards. This enables us to start implementing our twin-engine strategy of growing our UK branded business and our white label operations across Europe.

"We have made a good start to FY15, in line with our expectations.

"We are moving to build on our early success. We have a plan and we have the firepower. The Group is now well-placed to become Europe's best local airline."

Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Beats analyst expectations on profit.

UPDATE 1-British carrier Flybe posts profit as cost cutting pays off

11 Jun 2014 - 08:13

Full-year pretax profit 8.1 mln stg vs analyst est 6.4 mln stg
Revenue 620.5 mln stg vs analyst est 623.9 mln stg
Shares rise as much as 4.3 pct in early trading
(Adds details from press release, background, share movement)

June 11 (Reuters) – British carrier Flybe Group Plc posted its first pretax profit in four years, beating market estimates, as cost-cutting measures it undertook paid off.

The company also made a good start to full-year 2015 and was trading in line with its expectations, Chief Executive Saad Hammad said in a statement.

Profits at a number of European airlines have been under pressure over the past few years as cash-strapped customers sparingly took flights in the years post the economic meltdown of 2008, adding to the burden of soaring fuel costs and higher airport charges.

Flybe kick-started a turnaround programme last January, trimming costs by giving up airport slots, cutting jobs, exiting unprofitable flight routes and grounding surplus fleet.

These measures helped the budget carrier swing to a pretax profit of 8.1 million pounds ($13.6 million) for the year ended March 31. Its books reflected a pretax loss of 41.1 million pounds a year earlier. [ID:nRSK3406Ja] Revenue jumped 1 percent to 620.5 million pounds.

Analysts on average expected a pretax profit of 6.4 million pounds, on revenue of 623.9 million pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"The return to profitability is a great step forward. This enables us to start implementing our twin-engine strategy of growing our UK branded business and our white label operations across Europe," Hammad said on Wednesday.

Although Flybe has issued a string of profit warnings since listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2010, a recovery in the UK economy could buoy prospects for the carrier, whose interests are split between business and leisure customers.

Fyle said the general economic outlook in its most important market, the UK, has improved, with a 1.9 percent growth reported in the year to December 2013.

Most commentators are expecting 2014 to see growth in the range of 2.4 percent to 3.5 percent, Chairman Simon Laffin said.

Flybe, which serves 35 UK airports, also flies people from the UK to other European destinations.

Shares in the Exter, England-heaquartered company rose 4.3 percent in early trading on Wednesday.

($1 = 0.5956 British Pounds)

(Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) ((esha.vaish@thomsonreuters.com)(within UK +44 20 7542 1810, outside UK +91 80 6749 1136; Reuters Messaging: esha.vaish.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

Keywords: FLYBE GROUP RESULTS/