Finnair Oyj - Company Announcement

Finnair estimates it will not reach profitability in the second half of 2011

FINNAIR PLC   STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE   7 October 2011 AT 09:30



Finnair updates earnings forecast for the second half of 2011 as follows:

According to preliminary results the third quarter is profitable, but the
current estimates indicate that the company's fourth quarter results will be
weaker than expected, and therefore the second half of 2011 is expected to be
slightly negative. However, the company expects that the results of the second
half of 2011 will be better than the results of the first half of the year.
According to the earlier Finnair profit guidance the result for the second half
of 2011 was expected to return to profit. 

This change in financial outlook reflects that prebookings for business travel,
especially in Finland, have been weaker than expected after the end of the
European holiday season, and that those bookings are unlikely to pick up
significantly during the fourth quarter due to current global economic
uncertainty. In addition, the profitability of Finnair cargo traffic is
declining, due to decreases in both prices and demand. Suntours, Finnair's tour
operator subsidiary, meanwhile continues to suffer from overcapacity in the
industry. 

“The cost savings and structural change program we've started is even more
crucial for us due to the weaker outlook for the rest of the year. Together
with Finnair employees, we will turn over every stone to achieve those savings.
Finnair is strongly committed to carrying out needed structural changes in
addition to the more immediate cost savings necessary to improve financial
performance," says Finnair CEO Mika Vehviläinen. 



Finnair continues to expect that its revenues will grow by more than 10 percent
in 2011. 



Finnair Plc
Communications
7 October 2011





Further information:

Erno Hildén, Chief Financial Officer,
tel. +358 9 818 8550

Arja Suominen, Senior Vice President, Communications and Corporate
Responsibility, 
tel. +358 9 818 4028

Kati Kaksonen, Investor Relations Officer,
tel. +358 9 818 2780