Carlisle airport owners Stobart Group said it was making strong commercial progress.

The aviation, energy and civil engineering group, issued a trading update prior to the publication of its interim results for the six months to August 31.

It said it was trading in line with market expectations.

The update did not mention Carlisle airport, which earlier this year saw the first commercial flights in 26 years as Loganair began services to Dublin, Belfast and its own London Southend airports.

However, it said passenger numbers at London Southend increased by 42 per cent in the six months to August 31, compared to the same period last year.

It said the growth was driven by the start of Ryanair flights in April, Loganair flights in May and the continued successful growth of easyJet.

Access was further improved by the introduction of early and late rail services between London Liverpool Street and Southend Airport.

From next month, WizzAir will start flying from London Southend Airport to three new destinations.

The group has a target of reaching five million passengers a year by February 2023.

It added: "Given the ongoing uncertainty in the sector, in part caused by Brexit, the group is taking a cautious approach to passenger forecasts in the short term, with the board working on the basis of circa 2.3 million passengers for the year ending February 29 2020.

"This would represent an increase of 53 per cent versus the previous year."

Its Stobart Energy arm saw the volume of waste processed into waste wood fuel increased by 148,000 tonnes to 806,000 tonnes, representing a 22 per cent increase on last year.

In July, Connect Airways, in which Stobart Group holds a 30 per cent interest, received merger control clearance from the European Commission for its acquisition of Flybe.

The statement said: "With Connect Airways taking over full management control of Flybe, the leadership teams are now focused on plans to grow its regional network, while Stobart Air continues to expand its successful franchise business."

Stobart Rail & Civils has been affected by delays to tendering for work and the reorganisation at Network Rail has also impacted the pace of new contract awards.

Warwick Brady, chief executive of Stobart Group, said, "Stobart Group has made considerable progress in the period, particularly in terms of the number of passengers that we have welcomed at London Southend Airport and the volume of waste fuel that we have been in a position to supply under contract. "I am particularly encouraged by the quality of airline partners that we are now working with and the opportunity that brings to deliver future sustainable operating profits."

The group's interim results are scheduled to be released on November 14.