Monarch Airlines is hopeful of following its return to the black for its financial year just closed with improved profits in 2016.
The evolving leisure carrier, which embarked on a major restructuring after securing fresh investor in November 2014, is forecasting underlying full-year earnings of more than £40 million ($60 million). The figure exceeds its profit expectations and marks a turnaround on the losses in the previous year.
Speaking to Flightglobal Monarch chief executive Andrew Swaffield says the leisure can build on its forecast profit for this year to become “even more profitable” in 2016.
Swaffield says £200 million in costs reductions achieved by the leisure carrier this year have been “permanently” taken out of the business and that new productivity deal reached between the London Luton-based carrier and its employees means Monarch now has a cost base that sits “between Ryanair and EasyJet”.
Barry Nightingale, Monarch’s chief financial officer, says the carrier benefited from breaking off its existing fuel hedging agreements at the time of its takeover by Greybull last year. This allowed it to save £30 million in fuel costs this year. Without elaborating on details, Nightingale says Monarch “will to try to follow what our competitors” are doing in its future hedging strategy.
Swaffield says the carrier could add some new markets in the Mediterranean next year and he expects flights to Sharm el-Sheikh to resume early next year. Flights to the Egyptian resort are cancelled until 6 January, in line with with UK government travel advisory in place since the MetroJet crash at the end of October.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
