Air Partner, the global aviation services group, has reported strong trading in the second half of the financial year in a trading update for the 12 months to 31 January 2022.
The strong performance has been driven by exceptional Freight bookings, including the transportation of vaccines. Air Partner has also continued to see strong levels of trading in Private Jets in both the US and UK. Demand for these services has more than outweighed the continued challenging conditions in Group Charter and Safety & Security, which have been impacted by Covid-19 travel restrictions. Although Group Charter’s government and sports work has remained strong, tour operators, automotive and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) activities are still not back at pre-pandemic levels.
As a result of the strong demand for the Company’s services, the Board of Air Partner now expects that profit before tax for the 12 months to 31 January 2022 will be materially ahead of current market expectations.
The Group’s cash position remains strong with net cash of £12.7m as of 30 November 2021 (31 July 2021: £9.8m), excluding both customers’ segregated JetCard deposits and a £1.4m provision for deferred consideration and other items relating to the acquisition of Kenyon International Emergency Services (Kenyon). In addition, the Group has already repaid the £5.0m of bank debt taken on in August 2021 to fund the initial purchase price of Kenyon.