DALLAS (AP) — Continental Airlines Inc. is adding to the evidence that US airlines are making a strong recovery from the recession.

Continental said yesterday it earned $233 million in the second quarter, nearly a mirror image of its $213 million loss a year ago, and its per-share earnings beat analysts' expectations. Revenue jumped by nearly one-fifth compared with a year ago.

Continental, which is combining with United's UAL Corp. to form the world's biggest airline, also raised doubts about what will happen once the summer vacation-travel season is over. It said advanced bookings are running one to two percentage points behind last year's pace.

Houston-based Continental said there has been "modest improvement" in demand from lucrative business travellers and rising profit on vacation travellers.

US airlines are reporting their strongest quarterly results in three years. After huge losses during the recession, Delta, United and US Airways combined to post $1 billion in earnings for the second quarter.

The rebound came with brutal cost-cutting that included the elimination of hundreds of flights each day by the major carriers. That reduced the supply of seats, helping to drive up fares. Continental said it would keep its supply of seats flat to up slightly in the third quarter. Airlines are also making money by charging extra fees for checking bags and other services.

Continental said it earned $1.46 per share last quarter. Excluding charges such as money spent preparing for the United merger, the company said it would have earned $1.60 per share. Analysts expected $1.51 per share excluding special items.

A year ago, the company lost $1.72 per share.

Revenue rose 19 percent to $3.71 billion, which matched the forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Traffic rose just two percent, but higher fares and extra fees helped Continental make 17 percent more money for each mile that passengers flew.

Fuel spending rose 8.6 percent from a year ago, but Continental did a much better job than rival American Airlines at managing fuel costs.

Continental ended the quarter June 30 with $3.5 billion in cash and short-term investments, up from $2.9 billion at the end of March.