Flybe shares slump 20% as passenger revenue falls

Shares in Flybe Group slumped more than 20% yesterday after the British budget airline said it would break even before tax in its financial year, ending in March, after a fall in third-quarter passenger revenue.

The embattled carrier posted its first pre-tax profit in four years in the year ending March 2014, helped by brutal cost cuts that involved giving up airport slots, slashing jobs, exiting unprofitable flight routes and grounding surplus fleet.

But Flybe has since been on rocky ground, swinging back to a loss in the first half of its current fiscal year due to one-off costs and a charge related to its exit from its Finland joint venture.