Finnair's revenue declines by 16% in Q1

National flag carrier Finnair reported on Wednesday that its Q1 revenue decreased by 16.0 percent to 561.2 million euros, compared to the 668.2 million euros of the same period last year, reported news agency Xinhua.

The company said it operates now on a two million-euro daily loss.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, Finnair now flies only a small network to maintain essential connections between Finland and other European countries. It is also using its AB 350 fleet for cargo flight services to Asia.

Finnair said on Wednesday that it is planning a 500 million value stock issue "to secure its competitiveness in the future". The state of Finland is a 55 percent majority owner of Finnair.

Following the Finnair announcement on Wednesday morning, a government press release confirmed state support for the issue plan.

Finnair CEO Topi Manner said in a press release that the current Finnair cash liquidity is 833 million.

Manner said Finnair has secured its cash position beyond the first half of 2021, even if the current situation extends. Finnair has not yet used a state guaranteed 600 million loan facility.

Finnair expects that flight connections will start recovering from July this year. Restoration to the 2019 conditions would take two or three years, however, said the company.