Flybe announces £6.7m loss

Exeter-based airline Flybe has announced a pre-tax loss of £6.7m.

Despite the fall, the company's new chief executive Christine Ourmiere-Widener, said the budget airline had started the new financial year well and will soon begin to cut capacity as leases on its existing aircraft end.

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, said this will allow the management team to concentrate on profitable routes.

Christine Ourmieres-Widener has had a lengthy career in the aviation and travel sectors, having first started in the maintenance department of Air France before working her way up to become the airline's UK and Ireland general manager and later vice president in New York.

She was chief executive of CityJet between 2010 and 2015 and has since acted as chief global sales officer for American Express Global Business Travel before joining Flybe as CEO in January 2017.