Finnair passenger numbers rise in May 2024 amid increased capacity

Finnair saw a rise in passenger numbers in May 2024, carrying 983,500 passengers, a 2.4% increase from May 2023. This growth was driven by a 6.0% increase in overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), due to the deployment of additional narrow-body aircraft after wet lease agreements with British Airways ended in March 2024. Including wet lease operations with Qantas, capacity rose by 8.0%.

However, despite the increase in traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) which grew by 2.0%, the Passenger Load Factor (PLF) declined by 2.7 percentage points to 71.3%.

Regional traffic performance varied:

• Asian traffic ASKs increased by 2.0%, with RPKs up by 1.6%.
• North Atlantic capacity decreased by 4.8%, but RPKs increased by 7.7%.
• European traffic saw a 13.6% rise in ASKs and a 2.3% increase in RPKs.
• Middle Eastern capacity fell by 4.7%, leading to a 5.4% decline in RPKs.
• Domestic ASKs increased by 15.9%, while RPKs decreased by 5.7%.

PLF across regions were:

• Asian traffic: 70.2%
• North Atlantic traffic: 79.1%
• European traffic: 72.3%
• Middle Eastern traffic: 60.8%
• Domestic traffic: 61.0%

Passenger numbers showed varied regional trends:

• Asian traffic increased by 0.8%
• European traffic rose by 4.4%
• North Atlantic traffic climbed by 5.8%
• Middle Eastern traffic fell by 7.4%
• Domestic traffic declined by 6.1%

Cargo performance was strong with total cargo tonnes up by 12.7% year-on-year, driven by growth in all traffic areas except domestic. Revenue cargo tonne kilometres increased by 9.1%.

Finnair’s punctuality was affected by renovation work at Helsinki Airport, with 77.2% of flights arriving on schedule, down from 86.5% the previous year.