Finnair posts profit

FinnairThe Finnish flag carrier has posted substantial profits for 2012, marking a major turnaround from the company’s EUR 90 million loss seen the year prior.

Official figures released by the Helsinki-based airline on Friday 8 February showed the carrier managed produce earnings of EUR 35 million for the last calendar year; experts note that 2012 was the first time since 2007 that the company has ended a year in the black.

Finnair management said that the improvement comes largely due to successful cost-cutting efforts, which have saved the airline nearly EUR 100 million a year. But despite the optimistic figures, officials said that the company would continue to work toward better efficiency in the coming year.

Finnair chief executive Mika Vehviläinen told the media, “There’s still room for improved efficiency in Finnair’s operations. The partnership agreements made during last year make room for further process development and re-evaluating of functions and structures. The aim is to question existing practises and to rethink in what ways we could improve our profitability,” the YLE news agency reports.