Finnish leisure carrier Air Finland transported 404,000 passengers in 2005, 30 percent more than in the previous year, and it said on Wednesday it expected to transport more than 500,000 passengers in 2006.

"This year has started on a positive note and demand has been strong," Air Finland said in a statement.

The privately-held Air Finland, which started up in 2002 and now operates three Boeing 757-200 aircraft, reported a 2005 net profit of close to EUR1.1 million (USD$1.4 million) on turnover of about EUR51 million (USD$64.4 million).

"The outlook for 2006 is good and we expect this year's result to be better than in the previous year," it said.

Air Finland's larger peer, national carrier Finnair, is scheduled to report January-March earnings on May 5.