The company earned 161 million Swedish kronor – around 105 million Danish kroner – in June.

The result represents the first time the company has cleared its bottom line since the fourth quarter of 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, an analyst said.

“It is a milestone for the company that it is earning money again,” head of stock market analysis with Sydbank, Jacob Pedersen, told Danish news wire Ritzau.

“And the profit has not been created by some kind of artificial exchange rate tailwind. It’s actually because SAS has had a normal and basic profit,” he said.

Investors also appeared to welcome the result with SAS shares getting a 16 percent upswing early on Wednesday.

Despite the good result for June, the airline is still in the red overall for its current operating year, which began last November.

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“June and July are by a distance the biggest months of income for SAS. So airlines that can’t earn money right now wouldn’t survive,” Pedersen said.

“So SAS is still far from achieving its goals. And we’re going to see a loss again when we’re on the other side of the peak season,” he said.

The analyst also noted that he had expected a higher profit for the company in June, and that other airlines – such as low-cost rival Ryanair – had produced more impressive results this summer.

Ryanair posted a profit equivalent to around 5 billion kroner in the first quarter of this year.

“So SAS hasn’t been invited to this party if you compare the numbers,” Pedersen said.