Finnair posts Q3 earnings of 354 mn euros
Friday, 02 November 2007, 19:30 IST
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Helsinki: Finnair, one of the world's oldest operating airlines, celebrated its 84th birthday Thursday by posting third quarter earnings of 545.2 million euros and the profit before tax of 55.9 million euros. "It is a joy to publish such a result on Finnair's 84th birthday, it is much needed for the coming investments," Finnair president and CEO Jukka Hienonen said in a statement. "We have a long, distinguished history, but it does not guarantee our success tomorrow. This success needs to be built every day. We are in a position to expect the best operating result of the new millennium so far this year," he added. The airline also reported capital gains of 17.3 million euros in the third quarter, even as operating costs rose by 1.2 per cent. Unit costs for flight operations dropped by just under eight per cent. "One important contributing factor was the drop in maintenance expenses due to new aircraft in the fleet. Fuel expenses increased by about 11 per cent, but decreased by two percent in relation to available tonne kilometres," Hienonen pointed out. "Efficiency measures will continue to be implemented at Finnair in accordance with the 80 million euro programme launched last year," he added. According to Hienonen, with Finnair's efficiency programme launched last year, "we are in a better result-making condition that is reflected in the figures for the third quarter. During January-September, Finnair carried 6.7 million passengers. Both capacity and demand in passenger traffic rose by approximately 12 per cent. The passenger load factor was at last year's level of 76 percent. Asian traffic grew by over 30 per cent. "World air transport has kept pace well with the development of the world economy. Despite the rise in fuel price, traffic numbers have grown on all continents," Hienonen said. "The growth of demand has been particularly strong in Asia and South America. Finnair's growth comes from Europe-Asia traffic. We come in fourth in this segment, right after the big players," he added.
Source: IANS
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