Exeter-based airline Flybe has seen shares fall by more than a quarter on Monday after the airline said that annual results would be worse than expected.
The low-cost regional airline said that it was expecting to ”break-even" for the year to March 31st, after passenger revenues dropped 3.8% to £126.8 million in the last three months to December.
Analysts had expected a full-year pre-tax profit of about £9 million.
Flyby is Europe's largest regional airline, with 67 planes flying 199 routes across 14 countries. It is currently 12 months into a three-year turnaround plan that has resulted in more than 1,000 jobs being cut and has also cut many unprofitable routes.
The carrier reduced seat capacity by 6.1% to 2.5 million in the three months to 31 December, but pressure on fares meant passenger yields slid 5.2% to £67.65.
Flybe said that competition had increased on some of the six routes it had begun flying from London City airport last year: "We believe that this competitive pressure will extend the period of time that these routes take to reach maturity and deliver the full contribution we expect."
