Finland Times

 

File Photo – Lehtikuva.

The turnover of national flag carrier Finnair shrank by 7.2 percentage points to 565.7 million euros in the second quarter of 2014.

 

In a release statement, the company’s CEO Pekka Vauramo described the second quarter as difficult, attributing the dip to a decline in unit revenue, loss of external turnover from restructuring of aviation services and weak development of the tour operator Aurinkomatkat Suntours.

 

Consequences of weak economic prospects in the country on domestic demand and increased competition, particularly in the long-haul traffic, impacted negatively on the unit revenue, said Vauramo. The unit revenue from passenger traffic also weakened because of the appreciation of euro against other primary revenue currencies, he said.

 

The Finnair CEO also remarked that the challenging operating environment had also been reflected in the revenue development of other airlines.

 

The airline’s passenger-load factors in April-June improved from that in the corresponding period of 2013. Progress was also made in the airline’s cost reduction programme.

 

Airline Finnair President and CEO Pekka Vauramo presented the company's second-quarter interim report in Vantaa on Friday. Photo – Lehtikuva.

“I am pleased that our cost reduction targets and market-based approach have been met with understanding among our personnel, and that we were able to reach agreement on the necessary cost reductions with some of our personnel groups,” said Vauramo in the statement. 

 

Vauramo said these positive measures, however, were not enough to compensate for the slump in revenue, as operational result declined to a substantial loss at 19.6 million euros in the second quarter.