Coronavirus almost halts Finnair passenger operations in Q2

Hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, national flag carrier Finnair's passenger operations have been nearly at a standstill, and revenue plunged in the second quarter this year, announced the airline in its half-year financial report issued on Friday, reported Xinhua.

Between April and June this year, Finnair's revenue dropped by 91.3 percent from 789.1 million euros in the corresponding period last year to 68.6 million euros. The airline's comparable operating result collapsed in the second quarter to a loss of 174.3 million euros. One year earlier, the company made a profit of 47.2 million euros.

In the first half of 2020, Finnair's revenue fell by 56.8 percent from nearly 1.46 billion euros in the same period of 2019 to 629.8 million euros. The airline lost a total of 265.4 million euros between January and June this year.

"Finnair's second quarter was characterized by a single factor: the COVID-19 pandemic," pointed out Topi Manner, CEO of Finnair, in the financial report, adding that it resulted in the airline's capacity dropping to 3.0 percent.

During the second quarter, Finnair's comparable operating loss was approximately 2 million euros each day, said Manner.

Taloussanomat, a Finnish language business online daily, reported on Friday, Finnair's loss was more severe than analysts had expected. Finnair's profit before taxes was a loss of 215.1 million euros in the second quarter, while analysts had expected a loss of 203.0 million euros.

The COVID-19 pandemic grounded Finnair's passenger operations to a near halt and revenue was mainly driven by cargo-only operations, the airline claimed.

Finnair forecast that in the third quarter this year, it will gradually increase its capacity and will operate 25 percent of flights in July compared to the same period in 2019. It plans to raise the share to about 50 percent in September.

There are uncertainties relating to the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and lifting of travel restrictions. As a result, the outlook still remains unclear, noted Finnair.