Finnair’s traffic growth continued in September
In September, Finnair carried 1,159,400 passengers, 7.8% more than in the corresponding period of 2017. The number of passengers grew in Asian traffic 5.5%, in European traffic 10.0% and in domestic 3.1%, while it decreased in North American traffic by -1.0%.
Finnair’s overall capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) increased in September by 13.2% year-on-year. Finnair’s traffic measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) grew by 7.2%. The high ASK growth rate was reflected in the Passenger Load Factor (PLF), which decreased year-on-year by -4.6% points to 80.8%.
Finnair’s long-haul capacity has been increased by the A350 aircraft with enlarged capacity, which has been introduced after the reference period. Asian traffic continued to grow, but at a slower pace than expected due to Jebi and Mangkhut typhoons. The ASK growth in Asian traffic was 8.8%. The growth was mainly directed at frequency additions to Tokyo and to the new route opening, Nanjing. In North American traffic ASKs increased by 8.7%, mostly due to additional frequencies to Chicago. Also, North American traffic suffered from few cancellations.
In European traffic, the ASK growth was 20.5%, which derived from the increase in the narrow-body fleet size year-on-year and the additional seating capacity added to some of the existing narrow-body aircraft. The added capacity was directed at frequency additions to several destinations in Northern and Central Europe and new route openings to Stuttgart, Lisbon and Minsk after the comparison period. ASK growth in domestic traffic was 7.9%.
In September, RPKs grew slower than ASKs which was reflected also in the passenger load factors. RPKs grew by 5.2% in Asian traffic, 12.2% in European traffic and 3.2% in domestic traffic. North American traffic decreased by -1.2%. The PLF was 85.9% in Asian traffic, 76.6% in European traffic, 78.7% in North American traffic, and 64.7% in domestic traffic.
Available scheduled cargo tonne kilometres increased by 13.7% year-on-year. Revenue scheduled cargo tonne kilometres increased by 3.7% mostly driven by the positive cargo market development in Japan despite typhoon Jebi, disrupting air cargo flows for several weeks especially in the Osaka area. The positive development was also seen in Finland and routes to the USA. Finnair’s total cargo capacity includes three weekly freighter flights between Helsinki and Brussels, operated by DHL. Cargo flight volumes decreased from the comparison period when Finnair rented cargo space from Japan Airlines.
In September 85.2% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (87.2).
According to preliminary data, Finnair’s unit revenue, or RASK (total Group revenue divided by ASK), decreased in July–September by 4.6% year-on-year and totalled 6.95 euro cents.
“Demand for air travel remained at a good level throughout the third quarter and we are pleased with our passenger growth. Our capacity continued to grow strongly, despite the cancellations of flights in August and September. As expected, the strong growth in capacity was also reflected as a decline in unit revenue,” says Finnair’s CFO Pekka Vähähyyppä
Traffic statistics for October 2018 will be published on Wednesday, 7 November 2018.
Finnair Traffic Performance September 2018
| September | % Change | YTD | % Change | |
| Total traffic | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 1 159.4 | 7.8 | 10 126.3 | 13.2 |
| Available seat kilometres mill (ASK) | 3 682.6 | 13.2 | 31 912.4 | 16.8 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill (RPK) | 2 974.4 | 7.2 | 26 605.0 | 15.5 |
| Passenger load factor % | 80.8 | -4.6p | 83.4 | -1.0p |
| Cargo tonnes total | 14 468.5 | -4.8 | 113 674.4 | -2.1 |
| Available tonne kilometres mill | 540.4 | 10.4 | 4 692.3 | 15.0 |
| Revenue tonne-kilometres mill | 357.3 | 4.1 | 3 100.6 | 11.8 |
Asia | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 202.0 | 5.5 | 1 846.6 | 18.6 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1 767.3 | 8.8 | 15 895.7 | 19.4 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 1 517.8 | 5.2 | 13 932.5 | 18.5 |
| Passenger load factor % | 85.9 | -3.0p | 87.6 | -0.7p |
| Europe | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 744.7 | 10.0 | 6 297.6 | 12.2 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1 496.8 | 20.5 | 12 261.4 | 13.9 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 1 146.1 | 12.2 | 9 747.4 | 11.6 |
| Passenger load factor % | 76.6 | -5.6p | 79.5 | -1.6p |
| North Atlantic | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 31.2 | -1.0 | 277.7 | 15.2 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 283.3 | 8.7 | 2 373.5 | 15.6 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 223.0 | -1.2 | 2 027.1 | 16.4 |
| Passenger load factor % | 78.7 | -7.9p | 85.4 | 0.6p |
| Domestic | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 181.5 | 3.1 | 1 704.4 | 10.8 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 135.2 | 7.9 | 1 381.8 | 17.3 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 87.5 | 3.2 | 898.1 | 12.7 |
| Passenger load factor % | 64.7 | -2.9p | 65.0 | -2.6p |
| Cargo Traffic | ||||
| Europe tonnes | 1 960.7 | -20.8 | 15 022.3 | -22.1 |
| North Atlantic tonnes | 1 076.9 | 24.9 | 7 698.2 | 9.7 |
| Asia tonnes | 10 463.0 | 3.7 | 83 574.2 | 11.9 |
| Domestic tonnes | 47.4 | -28.1 | 408.0 | -46.4 |
| Cargo scheduled traffic total tonnes | 13 547.9 | 0.4 | 106 702.8 | 4.9 |
| Cargo flights, tonnes** | 920.6 | -45.9 | 6 971.5 | -51.6 |
| Cargo Traffic tonnes total | 14 468.5 | -4.8 | 113 674.4 | -2.1 |
| Available tonne kilometres* mill | 144.4 | 8.0 | 1 218.6 | 11.5 |
| Revenue tonne kilometres mill | 91.0 | -3.8 | 719.4 | 0.8 |
| Available sched.cargo tonne kms*, mill. | 142.7 | 13.7 | 1 204.1 | 18.2 |
| Revenue sched.cargo tonne kms, mill. | 89.5 | 3.9 | 707.9 | 10.5 |
| Cargo load factor* % | 63.0 | -7.8p | 59.0 | -6.3p |
| – North-Atlantic cargo load factor* % | 49.9 | 1.9p | 50.3 | 0.4p |
| – Asia cargo load factor* % | 71.4 | -5.6p | 66.2 | -4.3p |
| Scheduled traffic Cargo load factor*, % | 62.7 | -5.9p | 58.8 | -4.1p |
* Operational calculatory 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 9 October 2018 at 9:00 am
