FLYBE has been cheered by improved summer demand in spite of the regional airline’s failure to make a profit in its most recent financial year.

The carrier – whose services include operations at Leeds Bradford Airport where it recently launched a ‘hop-on, hop-off’ service linking Aberdeen, Leeds Bradford, Southampton and Jersey – warned in January that it would only break even in the year to March 31, compared with earlier City forecasts for a profit of about £9 million.

Exeter-based Flybe, which flies 67 planes to 199 routes across 14 countries, has reiterated its break-even target but also said it had been encouraged by recent trading after a nine per cent rise in UK passenger revenues compared with a year earlier.

It has increased capacity by 13 per cent with the launch of new routes and said that 31 per cent of capacity has already been sold for this summer.

The airline is one year into a three-year turnaround plan that has seen it cut over 1,000 jobs. and unprofitable routes after seeing passenger numbers fall in the wake of the financial crisis.

Last June it posted a £8.1 million pre-tax profit, its first in four years. But this swung back to a £15.6 million half-year loss by November due to one-off costs and a charge related to the exit from its loss-making joint venture, Flybe Finland.

Flybe chief executive Saad Hammad said: “These results demonstrate that we are beginning to deliver on the company’s growth opportunities and that we’ve tackled the majority of the company’s legacy issues.

“There is clearly more to do; further improvements in efficiency, further cost reductions and the resolution of our remaining surplus aircraft.”