Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second-largest full-service carrier, said Friday its operating profit turned to the black in the second quarter, posting 2.98 billion won ($2.87 million). In the same period a year ago, the company posted an operating loss of 29.93 billion won.

Despite a surplus in operating profit, however, the carrier posted a net loss of 11.75 billion won ($11.3 million) in the second quarter, mainly due to a rise in one-off non-business spending and a stronger won.

“Because of Asiana’s relatively small size, it benefited less from the appreciation of the Korean won against the dollar, which alters the size of assets and liabilities in account books,” the source said.

He added that a rise in spending also hurt net earnings figures for the March-June period.

On the other hand, the airline said the introduction of two A380 super jumbo jets, improved passenger service capacity, while a rise in demand for China and Europe routes bolstered business. (Yonhap)