Scottish airline Loganair has revealed a £15 million investment programme after reporting a further improvement in performance.
Turnover and profits were up for a fourth consecutive year with passenger numbers continuing to rise.
Revenue for the year to March 2015 increased by 7.21% to £93.6 million, and pre-tax profit was up 24.1% to £7.2m.
Passenger numbers on Loganair’s 31 scheduled routes across the Highlands and Islands and the rest of the UK rose by 13% to 656,036.
The Flybe liveried airline’s new routes added during the year included Dundee to London Stansted.
Chairman David Harrison said: “2015 was a challenging year but we have a very robust and comprehensive plan to further improve our fleet and enhance the comfort of our passengers.
“We have committed more spend than we have ever done to achieve those ambitions.”
The £15m investment includes £4m on the purchase of two 50-seater Saab 2000 aircraft, and £1.5m to buy a 31-seater Dornier 328 turboprop.
There will also be £3.5m to begin a three-year programme of major passenger upgrades for the Saab 340 fleet workhorse to significantly improve journey comfort and convenience.
A £6m investment in a new spares hub at Glasgow Airport will allow faster and more efficient servicing and repairs Loganair now employs a record 146 engineers, almost twice as many as in 2007.
Demands on the engineering department have increased with five different aircraft models from four different manufacturers to maintain.
Although criticised from some quarters over reliability, chief executive Stewart Adams said the punctuality figures for all flights departing within 15 minutes of schedule sits at 77%.
That is higher than the UK industry average and Loganair has set a target of 85% for 2016 as the benefits from investments are delivered.
The passenger load factor was down slightly on the previous year’s all-time high of 64% but Loganair considered it a good result with a 26% increase in seat capacity due to the introduction of the larger Saab 2000 aircraft.
The chairman added: “We started the new financial year in a position of strength, and look forward to pursuing our strategy of controlled expansion in both our scheduled service network and our dedicated long-term charter contracts.”
Dividends totalling £7.67m were paid to parent group Airline Investments Ltd to fully repay loans to finance its purchase of Loganair in 2012.