HELSINKI: Finland‘s national carrier Finnair said Friday it was axing 450 jobs and mulling a "complete restructuring", as it announced net losses of 13.3 million euros ($18.1 million) last year.
The fourth-quarter showed a net loss of 4.7 million euros, with burgeoning costs outweighing increased sales.
The company plans to cut jobs in "unprofitable" aircraft and parts maintenance work.
"Our own competitiveness has weakened as costs have grown and we have had to consider a complete restructuring," said senior vice president of Technical Services Kimmo Soini.
The company reduced annual net losses by 88 percent from 2009, buoyed by a 10 percent rise in sales to 2.023 billion euros, as the global economy recovered and travellers, especially business passengers, took to the skies again.
"Due to efficiency measures, we were able to reap the benefit of improving demand and price levels as well as a tailwind provided by the strengthening of key sales currencies," chief executive Mika Vehvilaeinen said.
Nonetheless the company was hit hard by both the Icelandic ash cloud and a ten-day December strike by cabin crew personnel, which cost the airline up to 2.5 million euros a day and prompted company leadership to issue a profit warning.
Before the strike, Finnair had posted a profitable third quarter - the first in two years - and had expected to continue profitability in the fourth quarter.
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