Finnair grows January traffic as load factor and unit revenue improve

Finnair carried 912,300 passengers in January 2026, a 3.8% year-on-year increase, supported by growth across most traffic areas. Passenger numbers rose strongly on North Atlantic routes, clearly in Asian and European traffic, and slightly in domestic travel, while Middle Eastern traffic declined.

Capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, also increased by 3.8% as operations normalised following industrial action last year and as Finnair added frequencies to key long-haul destinations including Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Hong Kong and Seoul, as well as Lapland. Traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometres grew faster than capacity, up 4.6%.

Passenger load factor improved by 0.6 percentage points to 74.1%, contributing to a 0.9% increase in unit revenue (RASK), which Finnair reported for the first time in its traffic performance release. Cargo performance was also strong, with total cargo tonnes up 7.5% and cargo tonne kilometres rising 8.9%.

Operational punctuality declined to 63.8%, impacted by exceptionally challenging weather conditions during the month.