Scandinavian airline SAS has posted a loss of 2.7 billion Swedish kronor (1.8 billion Danish kroner) for the last three months ending in January.

The loss is around 300 million kronor more than the one registered in the same period last year, Danish news wire Ritzau reports.

The result covers the period from November to January.

Although revenue increased by 2.3 billion kronor compared with 12 months earlier, profit did not keep pace due to higher costs.

SAS has been in a restructuring process since summer 2022 as part of its SAS Forward plan, and has applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US.

CEO Anko van der Werff cited an increase in passenger numbers by 48 percent compared to last year as a positive element of the result.

“We are happy that so many passengers are returning to SAS,” he said in the statement.

Around 4.5 million passengers flew with SAS in the last quarter. A year prior, travel was still largely restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But SAS’ failure to raise its profit amid the increase in passengers is disappointing for the airline according to stock market analyst Jacob Pedersen of Sydbank.

“You would think that SAS would earn more money when their passenger numbers go up by almost 50 percent but they didn’t,” Pedersen told Danish news wire Ritzau.

“In that sense these are really weak numbers,” he said.

But the company is showing self-confidence by raising its economic forecast for this year, he also said.

“Especially when you consider that there’s an outlook for in recession in Europe later this year,” he said.

“Things don’t usually go well for airlines during periods of recession,” he said.

SAS expects its revenues next year to approach the level seen prior to the pandemic.

In 2025 the company expects to earn “more than 49 billion Swedish kronor” according to its latest financial report. That is an adjustment upwards from previous expectations.