July 28 - Air Partner's freight division continues to show progress, albeit from a low base, but this was offset by weaker than expected group trading in the period since the company's AGM in June.

Air Partner claims that this was primarily due to a poor performance in the company's commercial jet division, which has seen a continued absence of material ad hoc projects.

Trading in the rest of the group is in line with management expectations, said Air Partner, with the private jet division delivering strong performances across the USA and the UK.

The impact of the weak commercial jet performance means that the board now believes that the group results for the six months ending July 31 will be a pre-tax profit of not less that GBP1.1 million (USD1.8 million).

The board currently expects the 2014 second half performance to be in line with previous years.

Air Partner said that the air charter sector has always operated in an environment of limited visibility and late order bookings, and having identified the specific area of weak performance, the company is confident that its long term prospects remain robust.

Although disappointed with the company's poor performance in the commercial jet division, Mark Briffa, ceo of Air Partner, commented: "We remain confident in our overall strategy which is progressing across the private jet division, oil and gas sectors, tour operating division and in the US."

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