Redundancy costs contributed to a £3.3 million decline in annual profits at air traffic organisation Nats Holdings in the year to March.
The group today reported a reduced pre-tax profit of £157.5 million as it handled an extra 100,000 flights to give an annual total of almost 2.2 million.
The average delay per flight attributable to Nats was 5.5 seconds – up from 1.4 seconds in the previous 12 months. This was about one-fifth of the average European delay per flight and came despite a ground communications failure on December 7, 2013 that resulted in delays to customers.
Chief executive Richard Deakin said: “We have made strong progress this year. Revenue and operating profit before exceptional items improved and our financial position remains robust.
“We have also continued to capitalise on new commercial opportunities in the UK and overseas and secured orders of £128 million from contract renewals and new business.
“I believe our strategic position is stronger, our order book shows the prospects are bright and the foundations are in place which will enable growth in the future as markets liberalise.”
The Airline Group, a consortium of airlines including British Airways, Monarch and easyJet, owns 41.9% of Nats. Nominal shareholdings are retained by Lufthansa, Thomson Airways, Thomas Cook Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
Nats said it continues to advise the work of the Airports Commission in its consideration of potential options for future airport capacity in south-east England.
This includes early assessment of shortlisted options, including airspace considerations for new runways or airports, with an emphasis on operational and network feasibility and identifying key constraints.