Finnish airline Finnair swings to profit in Q2 as demand recovers

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's national carrier Finnair on Friday reported a swing to profit in the second quarter, helped by recovering demand.

Comparable operating profit was 66.2 million euros ($73.7 million) in the period, against a year-earlier loss of 84.2 million euros.

"We captured demand with our balanced network and were successful in our pricing and sales efforts," CEO Topi Manner said in a statement.

Finnair has been setting up new routes and coming up with new services to make up for Asian routes lost due to the closure of Russian airspace as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine.

The airline added higher costs, inflation and rising interest rates continued to cause uncertainty on the market.

Finnair published a new target of 150 million-210 million euros for its full-year 2023 comparable operating profit, after in June saying it would do so due to this year's higher travel demand.

The carrier says on its website its adjusted profit excludes fair value changes in derivatives, changes in the exchange rates of fleet overhauls, and items affecting comparability.

($1 = 0.8977 euros)

(Reporting by Essi Lehto; Editing by Jan Harvey)