Airline group Flybe has returned to the black following implementation of a turnaround programme.
The listed group, whose largest base is at Birmingham Airport, said today a pre-tax loss of £41.1 million in 2013 had moved to a pre-tax profit of £8.1 million.
The company, headquartered in Exeter, has undergone a major restructure, much of which has focused on redundancies which alone cost £9.6 million in the year to 31 March 2014.
Total group revenue under management rose from £781.5 million to £868.4 million while it had enjoyed record passenger numbers and load factors in its UK business.
Chief executive Saad Hammad said today: "2013/14 marks the rebirth of Flybe. We implemented a turnaround plan to stabilise the business and then successfully raised over £150 million 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."
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