Finnair traffic performance in August 2020: -86%

The COVID-19 pandemic impact remained clearly visible in the August traffic figures, cargo demand still strong

In August, Finnair carried 193,000 passengers, which is 85.8% less than in the corresponding period of 2019 but 32.9% more than in July 2020.

The overall capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) decreased in August by 84.1% year-on-year. Finnair operated 116 daily flights (cargo-only included) on average which was 31.8% compared to August 2019. The differences between capacity figures are explained by the shorter operated flights on average and by smaller operated aircraft compared to August 2019. Finnair’s traffic measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) decreased by 92.4%. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) decreased by 45.1% points to 41.7%. The COVID-19 impact, including the strict travel restrictions imposed by Finland, still affected all passenger traffic figures and was visible especially in the North Atlantic figures as there were no related scheduled flights in August.

The ASK decline in Asian traffic was 86.6%. The North Atlantic capacity decreased by 100.0%. In European traffic, the ASKs were down by 78.7%. The ASKs in domestic traffic decreased by 62.5%.

RPKs decreased in Asian traffic by 96.4%, in North Atlantic traffic by 100.0%, in European traffic by 86.4% and in domestic traffic by 64.6%.

The PLF was 24.3% in Asian traffic but it was supported by the cargo operations and very high cargo load factor. The PLF was 52.8% in European traffic and 62.8% in domestic traffic, whereas there was no PLF figure in North Atlantic traffic due to zero passenger flights in August.

Passenger numbers decreased in Asian traffic by 96.4%, in North Atlantic traffic by 100.0%, in European traffic by 84.9% and in domestic traffic by 69.5%.

Available scheduled cargo tonne kilometres decreased by 86.8% year-on-year and revenue scheduled cargo tonne kilometres decreased by 81.4%, both due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on scheduled flights. However, cargo related available tonne kilometres decreased by 78.4% and revenue tonne kilometres decreased by 70.5% and they included also the cargo-only flights mainly operated between Europe and Asia as well as Europe and North America. The total cargo tonnes were up by 13.7% from July 2020 mostly due to strong demand related to the scheduled cargo capacity. As a result, the cargo load factor was still clearly higher than in the corresponding period of 2019.

In August, 96.0% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (76.9%).

Traffic statistics for September 2020 will be published on Wednesday 7 October 2020.

* Based on average operational cargo capacity

** Including purchased traffic

• Change %: Change compared to the figures of the respective periods in the previous year (p = points).
• Available seat kilometres. ASK: Total number of seats available. multiplied by the number of kilometres flown.
• Revenue passenger kilometres. RPK: Number of revenue passengers carried. multiplied by kilometres flown.
• Passenger load factor: Share of revenue passenger kilometres of available seat kilometres.
• Available tonne kilometres. ATK: Number of tonnes of capacity for carriage of passengers. cargo and mail. multiplied by kilometres flown.
• Revenue tonne kilometres. RTK: Total revenue load consisting of passengers. cargo and mail. multiplied by kilometres flown.
• Overall load factor: Share of revenue tonne kilometres of available tonne kilometres.

Finnair Plc                Investor News        8 September 2020 at 9:00 a.m. EEST