Continental Airlines Inc. world's fifth-largest carrier, reports a robust quarterly profit on Thursday, and claimed travel demand, especially from lucrative business travelers, was improving modestly.

The data reveals that passenger revenue per available seat mile, considered the best gauge of revenue for airlines, was still down 9% but it eased from the double-digit declines of the last two consecutive quarters.

The airline reported net income of $85 million, or 60 cents per share, in the fourth quarter compared to a net loss of $269 million or $2.35 per share last year.

In addition, it reported its expenses to be down 9%, with fuel costs reduced by nearly one-third.

The airlines is cited to be among few airlines that didn't streamline in bankruptcy court in the last decade, so its expenses been more of an onus compared with others in its industry.

New Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffery A. Smisek, said on Thursday the company has "a long and slow road to recovery" but he emphasized business traffic was increasing some.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters speculated a seven-cent loss on $3.19 billion in revenue.

Load factor, of the percentage of available seats filled, rose 3.3 percentage points to 82%, standing firm on the company's expectation, as capacity fell 0.5%. Traffic was up 3.7%.