Revenue fall of 6.3% for West Atlantic

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Sweden’s West Atlantic Group saw revenue fall 6.3 per cent to 1,320 million Swedish Krona (SEK)($146 million) in 2016 – down on the 1,409 million SEK in 2015.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was 127.5 million SEK – down on the 177.9 million SEK in 2015.

West Atlantic has also been awarded an extended contract with Royal Mail UK. The new five-year deal started in January this year.

The West Atlantic is a European dedicated cargo airline specialised in mail and express freight. It is the holding company for two European cargo airlines, West Air Sweden and Atlantic Airlines of the UK with its head office in Gothenburg.

Chief executive officer and president, Frederik Groth says: “Our fourth quarter included a successful year-end operation, but the rate of cost reductions seen earlier in the year was halted some, due to the need to ensure we had all the resources to deliver a quality service to our clients during their peak period. We are seeing an improving operation, and stable cash flow.

“Costs related to non-flying ATP aircraft, excess aircraft maintenance facilities, and indirect personnel cost are still preventing us from reaching the EBIT levels we are aiming for. We are continuing to implement our aggressive cost reduction plan.

“This effort, combined with the implementation of the Royal Mail UK contract (which commenced partially in January), will lead us to a stronger 2017 and beyond.”

He adds: “We are adding a total of seven B737-400 as a result of the Royal Mail UK contract award. Two of those have been delivered to date, and the additional aircraft are coming on-board over the next five months. We are working on finding new opportunities to grow our CRJ and B767 fleet, while also ensuring our ATP fleet increases its utilisation.

As for the future outlook, Groth says: “2016 was a year with lots of difficult changes, a terrible aircraft accident, cost reductions, and new contracts. We have come a long way from where the year started, but we did not reach all our objectives.

“We have entered 2017 with a solid plan in hand for how to complete the Group turnaround and ensure we re-main competitive and can deliver on our financial and operational promises going forward.”