Budget flights rekindle Alpha Airports

Budget airlines today continued to boost flight services group Alpha Airports after shares surged on the back of a positive trading update.

The group, which provides in-flight catering as well as retail services at airports, said demand had been strongest in the low-cost travel sector.

That has helped it overcome pressure on the aviation industry after September 11, which wiped out Alpha’s profits and forced it to axe 923 jobs last year.

Alpha, which is based in Cranford, Middlesex, will report annual results on March 27 but said today that its performance in the six months to the end of January had been in line with hopes.

That encouraged the City – which had been expecting pre-tax profits of £18.4m (€28.2) – and shares surged 10% in the wake of the trading update.

Alpha said its flight services division had continued to see subdued demand for traditional catering for scheduled and charter airline customers.

But onboard retail services for low-cost and charter airline passengers has enjoyed further growth in the last six months, Alpha said.

The division has eight major customers, including British Airways, United Airlines, Bmi, GMC and MyTravel.

The increasing popularity of low-cost travel has also benefited the company’s operations at airports in the UK and abroad.

The retail services division, which has outlets including World News, Glorious Britain and Sunglasses Studio, has seen duty and tax free sales rise more than 11% on a like-for-like basis over the last year.

Alpha said: “UK retail has continued to benefit from an ongoing growth in regional airport passenger numbers, driven by the low-cost airlines.”

Airports served by Alpha include Manchester, Aberdeen, Belfast and Bristol.