Finnair said Thursday it expects full-year operational profit to double in 2017 after it flew a record number of passengers in Q2, boosting operational profit more than 11-fold. Q2 operational profit surged to E37.5m, well above the E23.7m expected by analysts polled by Reuters, lifted by Asia and Europe. The results and forecast propelled the Finnish airline's shares 5.5% higher to a 9-year high. The company wants to further strengthen its Asia routes, which represent about half its total capacity, aiming to fly 20m passengers annually by 2030, CE Pekka Vauramo said, adding that the goal was "realistic". Finnair now flies roughly 11m passengers a year. The airline, majority owned by the Finnish state, reiterated its 2017 capacity growth outlook of 8-10%, due to fleet renewal and introduction of new aircraft. The company said it expected its comparable operating profit for 2017 to broadly double from last year's E55m figure. Finnair has struggled in recent years with tough competition from discount carriers, but cost savings and more flights to Asia has helped it swing back into profit.<br/>
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You’d think Qatar Airways, voted the world’s best airline in a passenger survey last month, would have no trouble keeping its seats filled. Instead, it’s had to cancel scores of flights after four neighboring countries barred it from their airspace; it’s also being kicked out of an American Airlines Group code share agreement that eased access to the crucial US market. On July 12, Qatar Air’s brash CEO, Akbar Al Baker, issued a rare public apology after his description of US flight attendants as “grandmothers” was condemned by other airline executives and labour unions. The carrier has now been pressed into service to fly 4,000 dairy cows into the country on cargo planes to assure fresh milk supplies during the blockade. It’s a humbling turn for an airline that until recently seemed unstoppable. Over the past decade, Qatar Air more than tripled its annual traffic, to 32m passengers, and bought hundreds of planes, with some $41b still on order, to fly travellers through its desert hub in Doha. It took stakes in three other airlines and is angling to buy 10% of American Airlines. Qatar Air has become a darling of high-end travellers, thanks to solicitous customer service and in-flight amenities such as suites that convert into private meeting rooms. Behind those successes is an extraordinarily deep-pocketed owner, the emirate of Qatar’s $335b sovereign wealth fund. But as recent setbacks have highlighted, the relationship carries risks. Story has more details.<br/>