TALLINN, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Estonia's state-owned airline Nordic Aviation Group registered a profit of 900,000 euros (1.05 million U.S. dollars) with Nordic passenger numbers up over 60 percent year-on-year in 2017, the company said Monday in a statement.
The company's revenue was 83 million euros last year, against the 51 million euros in 2016. The profit was achieved and the company ended the year in the black, despite of a forecast loss of a total of 6 million euros for 2017, according to the company.
The company saw faster growth than expected in 2017 as well as substantially better economic results, said the company's CEO Jaan Tamm, who admitted that "Building the new airline hasn't been easy, and the support of our people is of critical importance here".
Estonian national airline Nordica airline, a new brand name introduced in March 2016, started operating on six new routes and offered a total of 18 destinations in 2017, and 10 new aircraft were added to the company's fleet.
In 2017, the number of people flying with the airline out of Tallinn increased by 68 percent on the previous year, and the airline is currently the clear market leader at Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport, said the company.
The airline has grown significantly on both its domestic and foreign markets, operating 16 aircraft between more than 30 destinations and with bases outside of Tallinn in a number of Northern European countries.
