British Midland's turnover increased last year, but its profits fell, the airline said yesterday. The company said its sales grew by 3 per cent to £559 million (€847 million), but profits fell 34 per cent to £11 million sterling (€16.7 million).

The airline flew some 1.57 million passengers from Dublin and Belfast to British airports in 1998, an increase of 4 per cent on the previous year. The Dublin-London Heathrow route is one of the fastest-growing for the airline, with numbers last year rising 7 per cent to 760,000.

"The global economic climate resulted in weaker trading conditions than in 1997, which was reflected in the profitability of our business," said British Midland's chairman, Sir Michael Bishop. "Despite the deterioration in scheduled airline market yields, widely reported throughout the industry in the last half of 1998, I am delighted that we still achieved record turnover and passenger numbers."

He said the airline had expanded capacity on the Dublin-Heathrow route with new planes, and also offered passengers to Dublin check-in facilities at Paddington Station's new Heathrow Express service.

"We are particularly pleased with the continuing growth on the Dublin-London Heathrow route," Sir Michael added. "Our continued investment over the past two years is an indication of our commitment to the route. It is now one of our most vibrant routes, and we expect to continue our growth curve in the current financial year."

British Midland's product manager, Ms Bairbre Drury-Byrne, said the Dublin/Heathrow route was one of the most competitive in Europe. Growth in bookings from Dublin indicated a continuing increase in passengers in 1999, she added.

The company also announced a seat sale, cutting fares to British and continental cities for a period of 14 days. The sale, which ends on May 1st, offers flights to Heathrow for £49 return, and seats to Paris and Amsterdam for £99.