Malaysia Airlines has ridden the economic updraft and returned to profitability in the first quarter, with increased cargo volumes and passengers, along with compensation from Airbus over delivery delays of its A380 superjumbos. The carrier announced its January-March net profit of RM310 million (US$97 million) , an improvement of more than RM1 billion from a loss a year earlier. Revenue surged 21 per cent to RM3.3 billion, including some RM329 million in compensation it received from Airbus. Cargo traffic also surged 31 per cent, boosting freight revenue by 53 per cent to RM456 million while passenger numbers surged 29 per cent with the carrier filling an average of 75 per cent of seats per flight compared with 56 per cent a year earlier.