Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s top air carrier, said Thursday it swung to a net profit in the third quarter of this year on increased air travel and cost-cutting efforts.

The airline posted a net profit of 263.7 billion won ($239 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, a drastic turnaround from a 544.4 billion won loss a year earlier, the carrier said in a regulatory filing.

Sales gained 3.1 percent on-year to 3.28 trillion won in the third quarter, and operating profit jumped 43.1 percent to 300 billion won, Korean Air said.

Shares of Korean Air closed at 50,400 won on the Seoul bourse, up 0.8 percent from the previous session.

Korean Air said the bottom-line turnaround resulted from a rise in the number of overseas travelers and its increased transportation capacity following purchases of large planes.

The carrier said it spent 3.58 trillion won to buy jet fuel during the January-September period, up 6.2 percent from the same period of last year.

Lee Sang-kyoon, an executive vice president who serves as chief financial officer, attributed Korean Air’s competitiveness to its new airliners, which he said would raise fuel efficiency by 20 percent. (Yonhap News)