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Exeter Airport has soared back into profit after passenger numbers skyrocketed following the Covid pandemic. The company has announced an operating profit of more than £1m – the first surplus it has made since 2019.
In the year to the end of March 2024, Exeter Airport welcomed 435,000 passengers, an 8% increase on the 402,000 travellers in 2003. The company said this was thanks to a growing route network of domestic and international destinations.
The airport has this year been flying people to 30 destinations, from Portugal and Turkey, as well as holiday experiences to places such as the Arctic Circle. Passengers can also connect to six destinations in the USA via Dublin with Aer Lingus.
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Passenger numbers had dwindled to just 27,000 in 2020/21, as the Covid restrictions caused huge issues for UK airports. But this increased to 170,000 in 2022 and has continued to climb.
However, in the past year, the number of flights had actually dropped from 30,000 in 2022/23 to 28,000. And while overnight air cargo flights for Royal Mail drove 3,000 tonnes of cargo, this will end in 2025 when Royal Mail pulls the plug on domestic flights and transfers to vans and HGVs in a bid to hit net zero by 2040.
Nevertheless, Exeter and Devon Airport Ltd’s newly published annual report and financial statements for the year to the end of March 2024 revealed that “primarily as the result of the increase in commercial passenger traffic”, turnover was £20,788,000, only slightly down from £20,801,000 for the previous 12 months. Operating profit £1,026,000, a £2,023,000 improvement on the £997,000 loss reported a year earlier.
The overall profit for the year, after tax and interest payments was down to £203,000, but this was still a step forward from the £1,225,000 loss in 2023. But no dividends will be paid this year.
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The airport had made a profit of £4,383,000 in 2019, but this fell to a £528,000 loss in 2020, followed by losses of £3,330,000 in 2021 and £1,457,000 in 2022. The future is now looking much better, and in he annual report Andrew Bell, director, wrote: “The company is optimistic that it is well positioned to deliver further growth across the spectrum of aviation and non-aviation activity that it undertakes, underpinned by the efficient and compelling proposition available to passengers and other business partners.”
He stressed the company is projected to remain profitable “in future years.” Staff numbers have already increased from 266 to 275, in the past year, with a wage bill of £7.3m.
Exeter and Devon Airport Ltd, whose chief executive is Stephen Wiltshire, is a subsidiary of Regional and City Airports Holdings Ltd, which also owns Bournemouth, Coventry and Norwich airports and manages Solent Airport. That company is part of Rigby Group Plc, the 12th largest family business in the UK, which also has interests in technology, real estate, hotels and technology investments.
