Jetmagic pleased with expansion plan progress

CORK airline Jetmagic has dismissed question marks over its performance and said it was happy with the progress of its latest attempt to secure extra funding.

The company said yesterday that it was in talks with a number of new investors to help finance its expansion plans, which saw the airline add a fourth daily flight from Cork to London City airport yesterday.

Jetmagic said advance bookings were up by 50% in early January when compared with December’s figures and added that it planned to announce a number of new destinations later in the year. The company began operations 9 months ago and has already sourced almost 6 million from private investors. The airline declined to say how much money it hoped to raise in the current funding round but said all its potential investors were Ireland-based.

A spokesperson said the airline was particularly happy with its London City route and that its Cork-Belfast service was also performing well. The company’s cost base was kept low through the use of relatively small 37 and 49-seat aircraft, as well as a heavy emphasis on sales through low-cost channels.

Jetmagic faces increasing competition in 2004 with the launch of new services by Aer Lingus on routes where Jetmagic has a presence. The airline will discontinue its Milan route, which Aer Lingus has targeted, and will also see fresh competition on its services to Barcelona and Alicante.

Aer Lingus said yesterday it expected to exceed its profit target for 2003, when it announces its annual results in March. Chief executive Willie Walsh had set a target of €75 million for the year but a strong performance on transatlantic routes will bring the final profit figure slightly above this level.