UK regional airline Flybe Group has set out plans to keep a lid on capacity as it contends with increasing competition and slowing growth in consumer demand.
The company said today that moves to slow its expansion had already provided some benefits and that it would cut capacity in the second half to leave it broadly flat for the year to March 2018.
Performance in the current financial year to June 5 had shown a 4.6% in passenger revenue per seat, Flybe said, adding that it had sold 45% of its capacity compared to 44% at the same point last year.
Flybe connects British regional airports to London and other European cities.
The company reported an adjusted pretax loss of £6.7m for the year to March 31, compared to a £5.5m profit the previous year.
Flybe said that IT costs were lower than expected at £4.8m, having warned in March that it expected a charge of between £5-10m related to a systems upgrade.
It has been contending with industry-wide challenges where larger European airlines have driven down fares by adding more seats to boost their market share in a period of lower oil prices.
Flybe's own difficulties had been compounded by its large exposure to the UK, where demand has experienced some turbulence after the vote to leave the European Union, and due to its own rapid capacity growth due to legacy commitments for additional aircraft.
