Finland's Finnair on Thursday reported a rise in quarterly earnings that topped market expectations and said it expects revenue to rise in 2025, sending the airline's shares up more than 12% in morning trade. Finnair, majority-owned by Finland's government, seeks to rebound from the twin blows dealt by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's airspace closure that hit the group's lucrative Europe-to-Asia business. "The fourth quarter of 2024 was strong: the number of passengers increased by 9.1% and our revenue by 7.7%," CE Turkka Kuusisto said. The airline's comparable operating profit for the October-December period rose to E47.9m from E22.5m a year earlier, above the E31m estimated by four analysts polled by LSEG. Finnair expects its full-year revenue to rise to a range between E3.3b and E3.4b from E3b while comparable operating result is estimated to remain at a range of E100m to E200m in 2025. Growth in comparable operating profit would be hindered by higher costs caused by sustainable aviation fuel surcharges and rising navigation and landing charges, the company said.<br/>