Helsinki - Finnish flag carrier Finnair on Thursday posted a pre-tax loss of 61 million euros (78 million dollars) in the fourth quarter of 2008, and was now looking ahead with a "gloomy outlook."

In the same quarter of 2007, Finnair had posted a pre-tax profit of 35 million euros.

Turnover in the final quarter increased 2 per cent to 580 million euros.

"We enter the new year 2009 facing the most gloomy outlook for some time," Chief Executive Jukka Hienonen said in a statement, noting that passenger and cargo demand dropped strongly at the end of 2008.

Hienonen predicted the demise of some carriers over the economic slowdown, credit crunch and reduced demand for air travel.

Finnair was to continue to implement its 50-millio-euro cost- cutting plan launched last year, he said, indicating that some 3,000 employees were to be laid off for up to three weeks. The group had some 9,600 employees at the end of the quarter.

A new cost-cutting programme of the same size was in the planning, the airline said.

During 2008, the carrier flew a total of 8.27 million passengers, down over 4 per cent year-on-year. Finnair's Asian traffic increased 15 per cent to 1.3 million passengers, and the airline said it aimed to continue services to its Asian destinations. (dpa)