Private bus operator Aircoach this year returned to profit as revenues have more than doubled to €26.16m.
New accounts filed by Last Passive Ltd show that in the 12 months to March 25 this year, the business recorded a pre-tax profit of €1.8m following a pre-tax loss of €1.19m in the prior year.
Revenues this year increased by 114% from €12.2m to €26.16m as the business recovered from Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Underlining the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on the business, the firm recorded combined lost revenues of €42.7m across the two pandemic hit years up until March 26 2022.
Pre Covid-19, the business recorded annual revenues of €29.3m.
The directors state that the current year has seen a significant uplift in turnover as passenger numbers increased and the effects of Covid-19 are no longer impacting the business as they did in the prior year.
The business provides a range of high frequency coach services to and from Dublin airport and Dublin City centre that include non-stop coach services linking Dublin airport to Cork, Belfast and Galway.
The firm in the year under review received €105,000 in Government wage subsidy scheme payments compared to €3.32m received in the prior year.
Numbers employed by the business - which is owned by the UK headquartered Firstgroup plc - increased from 184 to 202 as staff costs increased by €2.3m from €6.9m to €9.32m.
On the firm's future developments, the directors state that the recovery of air travel and tourism within Ireland has been strong throughout the financial year.
The directors add that with the expansion of the wider business following the Airporter acquisition in Northern Ireland and the addition of a new Galway route, the business is now a truly All-Ireland brand.
They state that "from a cost perspective, the environment remains challenging with fuel price volatility and higher inflation, but this is being offset in part by growth in commercial and ancillary revenues".
They further state that "driver recruitment remains difficult in a growing public transport environment, but the directors remain confident that the company's activities will generate a satisfactory result in the coming financial period".
At the end of March last, the firm had accumulated profits of €1.6m The firm’s cash funds increased from €1.56m to €2.65m.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
