AN airline which operates several services out of Southampton has reported another years of losses but the company is much closer to getting back into the black.

Flybe says its has managed to limit its losses with higher sales and customer numbers during a "challenging" period for the airline operator.

The company reported a pre-tax loss of £9.4 million for the year ended March 31 2018, an improvement on its £48.5 million loss the year before.

Group revenue was up 6.4 per cent, rising from £707.4 million to £752.6 million. Passenger numbers increased from 8.8 million to 9.5 million, a rise of 7.7%.

Flybe was forced to restate its 2017 losses due to an onerous lease provision on one of its aircraft. This resulted in a £28.6 million non-cash impairment for 2017, and a £1.3 million hit to its 2018 figures.

Shares were down 4 per cent in morning trade following the update.

The company said Europe's aviation market "continues to be challenging", with airlines struggling with an oversupply of short-haul flights, higher fuel prices and a weak pound.

Chief executive Christine Ourmieres-Widener said: "Flybe has made significant progress during my first full year as chief executive. With our fleet size under control, we are already delivering improvements to passenger yield, load factors and revenue.

"Profitability has however been impacted by higher maintenance costs, IT investment and the poor weather in the final quarter."

Flybe said its sales in the first half of the 2019 financial year were "encouraging", and that passenger revenue was 1.4% higher year on year so far, with revenue per seat up by 10.9 per cent.

The company's shares rocketed in February when Stobart Group said it was considering a bid for the company.

Stobart and Flybe already work together and have a franchise arrangement between the two groups' airlines.

However, Stobart walked away from its bid in March after the two firms failed to agree terms.