The carrier has been on a well-documented turnaround path under chief executive Saad Hammad, who had previously worked at easyJet.
Last week it swung back into the black after resolving aircraft issues and seeing an improvement in its core UK business.
The firm reported a profit before tax of £22.9m for the first half of its financial year – up from a loss of £3.3m. Group revenue rose by 10.3% to £339.6m. The company’s share price fell by 7.8% and ended Monday at 86p.
Flybe has also finalised plans for its remaining Embraer E195 jets.
“We have returned to profit by delivering significant revenue growth through capacity investment and improved commercial execution, while reducing unit cost,” Hammad said.
He did however sound a note of caution, warning about competitive pressures in the market, which are “expected to grow in the second half with industry-wide benefit from lower fuel costs and growth in seat capacity”.
But despite the fall in share price, Gerald Khoo, transport analyst at investment bank Liberum, described the results as “decent”, and said they “gave reassurance that Flybe’s multi-stage turnaround programme is on course.”
He added: “As importantly, the results were relatively clean, a consequence of the group’s legacy issues now being behind it.
“Some of the outperformance in H1 may reflect cost phasing, and management is understandably cautious on the outlook for winter given Flybe and market capacity growth.”
Analysts at Numis called the results strong, adding: “Management is confident that the turnaround is on course and the focus is now turning to ‘profitable growth’... the final chapter of the transformation programme.”
The airline has endured a rocky time since it debuted on the stock market in late 2010. Its shares steadily fell in value from an initial price of £2.95. When Hammad took over in July 2013, the airline was trading at 60p. To turn things around the former easyJet chief commercial officer axed jobs and unprofitable routes.
Meanwhile, Flybe has decided to stop basing aircraft at Bournemouth airport. The company will pull out on March 27, 2016. In another move likely to impact south-coast passengers, the airline has decided to no longer base E195 jets at Southampton.
