Finnair traffic performance in April 2022: clear improvement

Clear improvement in April passenger traffic figures year-on-year and even month-on-month despite the Russian airspace closure; cargo figures remain strong

In April, Finnair carried 680,300 passengers, which was 740.4% more than in April 2021. The number of passengers in April 2022 was 10.7% more than in March 2022 (month-on-month figures are not fully comparable as there was one fewer day in April).

The COVID-19 impact, including the strict travel restrictions imposed by several countries due to the Omicron variant, still affected passenger traffic figures. It was particularly visible in the Asian figures. The Russian airspace was closed at the end of February due to the counter-sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, which resulted in route and frequency cancellations in Asian traffic. Thanks to robust demand for cargo, Finnair, however, continued operating to most of its Asian destinations despite the longer routings. Thus, the negative impact of the airspace closure on Asian passenger traffic figures, which were already affected by the pandemic, remained moderate in April. The reported traffic figures do not take into account longer routings caused by the airspace closure.

The overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased in April by 507.9% year-on-year and by 6.8% month-on-month. Finnair operated, on average, 236 daily flights (cargo-only included), which was 237.1% more than in April 2021 and 10.8% more than in March 2022. The differences between capacity figures compared to April 2021 are explained by the longer average stage length of flights operated and by the larger gauge of aircraft operated. Finnair’s traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 1,270.9% year-on-year and by 21.0% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) increased by 33.2% points year-on-year and by 7.0% points month-on-month to 59.6%.

The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 167.5% year-on-year. Finnair restarted its North Atlantic passenger operations in March 2021 with flights to New York, whereas in April 2022, it operated to many US destinations from both Finland and Sweden. Therefore, the North Atlantic capacity increased by 3,403.3% year-on-year. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 793.6%. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 152.8%.

RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 1,120.3%, in North Atlantic traffic by as much as 19,958.4% due to the abovementioned reasons, in European traffic by 1,321.3% and in domestic traffic by 174.1% year-on-year.

The PLF was 51.9% in Asian traffic and 47.6% in North Atlantic traffic but both were supported by the strong cargo operations. The PLF was 69.5% in European traffic and 71.1% in domestic traffic.

Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 1,093.2%, in North Atlantic traffic by as much as 17,759.1% due to the aforementioned reasons, in European traffic by 1,084.1% and in domestic traffic by 206.0% year-on-year.

Despite the Russian airspace closure, cargo figures improved year-on-year clearly but remained close to March 2022 figures in April. Available scheduled cargo tonne-kilometres increased by 299.0% year-on-year (increased by 1.9% month-on-month) and revenue scheduled cargo tonne-kilometres increased by 192.8% (increased by 2.1% month-on-month), both due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on scheduled flights, especially in North Atlantic and Asian traffic, in April 2021. Cargo-related available tonne-kilometres increased by 42.5% year-on-year (decreased by 2.1% month-on-month) and revenue tonne-kilometres increased by 7.5% (decreased by 2.8% month-on-month). These figures also include the cargo-only flights which were mostly replaced by scheduled passenger flights carrying cargo in April. Strong demand for cargo capacity continued in April as the total cargo tonnes increased by 25.8% year-on-year and by 2.4% month-on-month.

In April, 81.0% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (92.9%).

Traffic statistics for May 2022 will be published on Tuesday 7 June 2022.

Finnair Plc                Investor News              5 May 2022 at 9:00 a.m. EEST