Close to one million passengers (+10.1%) and solid passenger load factor for Finnair in August

In August, Finnair carried 969,800 passengers, which was 10.1% more than in August 2022 but 8.7% less than in July 2023.

August passenger traffic figures improved year-on-year as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts have mostly faded and as the Russian airspace was closed already during the comparison period. The negative impact of the Russian airspace closure especially on Asian passenger traffic figures was, however, still visible in August 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic figures. The distance-based reported traffic figures do not take into account longer routings caused by the airspace closure as they are based on Great-Circle distance.

The overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased in August by 13.6% year-on-year but decreased by 2.0% month-on-month. Finnair’s traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 16.6% year-on-year but decreased by 7.8% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) increased by 2.1% points year-on-year but decreased by 5.0% points month-on-month to 79.8%.

The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 41.5% year-on-year explained e.g. by the additional capacity to Japan and South Korea. The North Atlantic capacity decreased by 40.7% as the operations between Stockholm and the North American destinations were discontinued at the end of October 2022. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 7.8%. The Middle Eastern capacity surged by 1,588.6% due to the Qatar Airways cooperation commenced in November 2022 and low traffic during the 2022 summer season. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 23.3%.

RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 54.8% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 35.9%. In European traffic, RPKs increased by 4.7%, in Middle Eastern traffic by 1,450.6% and in domestic traffic by 7.9%.

In August, the PLF was 84.9% in Asian traffic, 81.8% in North Atlantic traffic, 76.7% in European traffic, 78.1% in Middle Eastern traffic and 66.3% in domestic traffic.

Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 51.2% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 36.6%. In European traffic, passenger numbers increased by 4.7% and in Middle Eastern traffic by 1,027.4%. In domestic traffic, the number of passengers increased by 6.6%.

Many cargo figures increased year-on-year in August due to Qatar Airways cooperation and increased Asian capacity even though discontinued operations between Sweden and the US cut North Atlantic cargo capacity. Cargo carried on flights as a part of the cooperation with Qatar Airways, where cargo capacity is fully allocated to and sold by Qatar Airways, is reported by Finnair under Middle East cargo figures. Available cargo tonne-kilometres increased by 16.2% and revenue cargo tonne-kilometres increased by 13.9% year-on-year. The total cargo tonnes increased by 18.0% year-on-year but decreased by 0.4% month-on-month.

In August, 81.6% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (80.8%).

Finnair Plc                Investor News              6 September 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EEST