Air Partner Plc has released half year results which are “slightly ahead of expectations” although gross profit for the period at £17.2m was marginally below the same period last year.
The global aviation services group reported that “our freight performance is slightly up year on year with gross profit of £1.9m (H1 2018: £1.5m) and we are cautiously optimistic for the full year".
This is despite the fact that trade tensions have caused challenges for the freight sector in general and air cargo volumes remain weak across the industry.
Chief executive Mark Briffa said: “We are pleased with the investments that we have made to date and the teams that we have in place in this area of the business, but remain mindful of the economic environment.”
He reports that the “aircraft-on-ground (AOG) product continues to be popular, and we have recently added a further six large airlines to our customer base. In addition, our on-board courier (OBC) service, suitable for smaller shipments, has grown year-on-year. OBC is looked after by a dedicated team of operations staff, who are located in the UK and Germany and work with a global network of around 200 couriers".
He stressed that “we remain committed to growing the freight division with a focus on hiring the right talent and developing the AOG, OBC, freight forwarder and energy sectors.”
