Finland's national carrier Finnair Friday reported its first positive quarterly operating profit since 2019 and said it expects strong demand to continue as it overhauls its strategy. A triple blow from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian airspace closure and high fuel prices has taken its toll on the airline, which announced a new strategy last month in order to return to profitability. "A positive operating result in the seasonally strongest third quarter is a step to the right direction, but we have a long journey ahead of us to nurse the company back to health," Finnair's CE Topi Manner said. Shares in the company were up around 5% in morning trade after the results. Finnair began seeking new commercially-feasible routes after the closure of Russian airspace due to the war in Ukraine cut off its previously lucrative Asian connections via a short northern route. The company expected demand to continue to be strong but significant uncertainty in its operating environment led it to cut its guidance for the use of its total capacity in the fourth quarter, to 80% from 80-85%, citing leases of aircraft to other airlines for the reason. The airline reported a comparative quarterly operating profit of E35.2m for Q3, compared to a E109.1m loss a year earlier.<br/>
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Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) will resume using Russian airspace on some flights, the Hong Kong-based airline said on Sunday, restarting flights it had stopped after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Cathay Pacific will begin flying from New York to Hong Kong using the popular "Polar route" from Tuesday, the company told Reuters. Citing strong headwinds and payload issues affecting its flights from the East Coast of North America to Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific said it will overfly the far eastern part of Russia. "The Polar Route provides a safe, direct and the fastest flight experience to our customers travelling from the East Coast of North America to Hong Kong", the airline said, adding that there were no sanctions preventing it from doing so. Cathay Pacific said in March that it was not routing flights through Russia's airspace, avoiding the area after the invasion of Ukraine despite longer flight times. Russia this year closed its airspace to European and US airlines, forcing some long-haul flights to Asia to take longer routes.<br/>