'Contrary to many other airlines, we didn't just get lucky – due to our business nature, drop in fuel prices had no impact on our results. The main source of improved profitability was growth in activity', Vytautas Kaikaris, CEO of Small Planet Airlines said.
'Even though in 2015 we had a few unexpected situations – e. g. a number of Small Planet Airlines flights were cancelled following the terrorist events in Egypt and in France, we managed to redirect our flights to alternative destinations and won a number of new flight contracts during the period, so we exceeded financial expectations', added Mr Kaikaris.
Full year profit was EUR 19.2 million before tax, in comparison to EUR 8.2 million in 2014 and EUR 1.7 million the year prior to that. Revenue grew by 27% from EUR 143.2 million in 2014 to EUR 182 million in 2015. At the end of the year, the company had 430 people within the Group compared to 348 at the same time last year, mostly consisting of flight and cabin crew members. The number of aircraft under company's certificates has also gone up year-on-year: in 2013, company had 8 aircraft, in 2014 – 11, in 2015 – 18 aircraft.
The 2016 summer fleet will consist of 21 Airbus aircraft – seventeen A320 and four A321. Most of the aircraft will have a new concept interior and additional services. It will include new Recaro seats, special LED lighting, and wireless internal network AirFi, which will allow passengers to stream media to their devices.
Fleet renewal in the beginning of 2016 gave a strong start for more intriguing challenges – trying new fields. 'During 2016 we will be dipping our toes into the direct sales to customers. This is one of our exciting steps in developing our business and building a sustainable business model. Our primary strategic focus does however continue to be on balancing our seasons and although the direct sales is a step toward that, our success will come from securing activities outside Europe during the winter seasons. To this end, we are working on projects in Asia and hope to increase our activities in the region during next winter', Mr Kaikaris said.
