Paul Wilson,
"Just never ever believe headline profit/loss figures for Private companies"
....hmmmm. Human nature doesn't change just because a company is an airline, but what does mark airlines out from the average "private company" is that they operate within a highly regulated environment, and the filed accounts reflect that. This doesn't mean they're necessarily "true and fair" in an objective sense, but I'd attach a lot more credence to the filed accounts of a UK airline than I would to those of the average private company, simply because of CAA compliance procedures.