Flybe flies lower as revenue per seat slides

Low-cost regional airline Flybe flew lower on Thursday after it said it took a hit from the terror attacks in Paris in November.

In a trading update for the three month period from 1 October to 31 December 2015, the company said passenger revenue per seat fell 6.1% to £46.61 compared with the same quarter the previous year.

Meanwhile, the load factor, which gauges how many seats were actually taken up on the flights, dropped to 68.9% from 74.3%.

Total revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% to £136.2m and the Exeter-based company said passenger volumes rose 2.1% to 1.92m.

Chief executive Saad Hammad said: “The tragic events in Paris overshadowed this last quarter and caused a significant hiatus in airline bookings, not just to France, but also on UK domestic and near-continent travel.

“As we expected, the combination of higher capacity in the market and lower spot fuel prices have led to lower yields sector-wide, even as the benefits start to come through from the unwinding of fuel price hedging. In this uncertain environment, we decided to protect yields rather than to chase unprofitable marginal revenue.”

At 1130 GMT, Flybe shares were down 7.5% to 78.15p.