 | Since the events of September 11th, we have witnessed many bankruptcies, and there are more to come. Airline bankruptcies are often very dramatic - the companies involved are often the national flag carriers. Overcapacity will evaporate as weak companies fall by the wayside, if the world does not resort to aid that distorts competition. Free competition under common ground rules is the best guarantee of customers' and tax-payers' interests and of the revival of the industry.
While we are waiting for a pick-up in demand, further challenges are being posed by clearly intensified price competition. This is leading to a fall in unit revenues. The only antidote for this is cost-cutting, in other words more efficient operations.
We are also facing our own challenges in the form of new foreign and domestic competitors. The fall in aircraft prices means that the threshold for newcomers has been lowered. How successful they will be in an increasingly competitive market, time will tell.
Although Finnair's result for the financial year falls far short of our target levels, we even so, be satisfied that we have kept control of our destiny under difficult circumstances. Our nearly debt-free status and strong cash flow equip us to withstand the knocks better than many of our competitors, and we can plan our future instead of depleting our resources in a struggle for survival.
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