Record-high passenger load factor of 90.2% in July; strong growth on Asian routes continues
In July, Finnair’s overall capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometers increased by 11,6 per cent year?on?year, and traffic measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers grew by 13.6 per cent. The number of passengers carried during the month was 1,12 million, which is the highest number ever (previous record in June 1.10 million). The passenger load factor increased by 1.6 percentage points to 90.2 per cent.
The capacity in Finnair’s largest traffic area, Asia, increased by 14.8 per cent in July and traffic grew by 19.8 per cent reflecting a high passenger load factor of 92.6 per cent. The selection of routes and frequencies was mainly unchanged year-on-year, but there were increased frequencies to Tokyo and Hong Kong in particular.
The capacity in North Atlantic traffic was broadly unchanged (ASK -0.2 per cent) but traffic measured in RPK increased by 3.9 per cent due to a high passenger load factor. The most significant year-on-year changes in the flight programme were the suspension of the Miami route for the summer and the launch of a new San Francisco route, operated three times a week from the beginning of June.
Finnair’s capacity in European traffic increased by 10.8 per cent reflecting new seasonal routes opened for the summer as well as four new A321 narrow-body aircraft, and traffic grew by 9.6 per cent year-on-year. Domestic capacity increased by 6.3 per cent but traffic decreased by 7.8 per cent due to a decline in the load factor on main domestic routes. The Oulu airport was closed for the resurfacing of the runway throughout the month.
Available Scheduled Cargo Tonne Kilometres increased by 12.6 per cent and Revenue Scheduled Cargo Tonne Kilometres increased by 13.8 per cent. The strong performance of cargo continued in July, driven by the main Chinese destinations, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway and Finland. Finnair’s total cargo capacity also included three weekly freighter flights between Helsinki and Brussels, operated by DHL as well as cargo space rented on Japan Airlines’ daily flights between Tokyo and Helsinki.
In July, 86.7 per cent of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (85.6).
Traffic statistics for August 2017 will be published on Wednesday, 6 September 2017.
Finnair Traffic Performance July 2017
| July 2017 | %-Change | Year-to date 2017 | %-Change | |
| Total Traffic | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 1 117,953 | 8,1 | 6 792,0 | 7,6 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 3 459,7 | 11,6 | 20 682,2 | 4,8 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 3 122,3 | 13,6 | 17 355,4 | 10,3 |
| Passenger load factor % | 90,2 | 1,6 p | 83,9 | 4,1 p |
| Cargo tonnes total | 14 058,1 | 8,8 | 86 369,2 | 2,9 |
| Available tonne kilometres mill | 518,0 | 13,7 | 3 079,4 | 5,9 |
| Revenue tonne-kilometres mill | 367,9 | 13,5 | 2 080,2 | 8,7 |
| Overall load factor % | 71,0 | -0,1 p | 67,6 | 1,7 p |
| Europe | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 785,1 | 9,0 | 4 228,3 | 8,6 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1 436,6 | 10,8 | 8 198,9 | 6,4 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 1 271,3 | 9,6 | 6 643,5 | 8,9 |
| Passenger load factor % | 88,5 | -1,0 p | 81,0 | 1,9 p |
| North Atlantic | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 34,4 | 2,9 | 175,9 | -0,3 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 272,7 | -0,2 | 1 525,9 | -3,3 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 247,2 | 3,9 | 1 273,6 | -0,3 |
| Passenger load factor % | 90,6 | 3,5 p | 83,5 | 2,5 p |
| Asia | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 206,3 | 19,5 | 1 164,3 | 13,5 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1 681,6 | 14,8 | 10 010,1 | 4,7 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 1 557,9 | 19,8 | 8 792,4 | 13,6 |
| Passenger load factor % | 92,6 | 3,9 p | 87,8 | 6,9 p |
| Domestic | ||||
| Passengers 1000 | 92,1 | -14,3 | 1 223,5 | 0,4 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 68,7 | 6,3 | 947,4 | 6,5 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 46,0 | -7,8 | 645,9 | 3,8 |
| Passenger load factor % | 67,0 | -10,2 p | 68,2 | -1,8 p |
| Cargo Traffic | ||||
| Cargo scheduled traffic total tonnes | 12 498,7 | 9,3 | 75 378,6 | 2,6 |
| Europe tonnes | 2 227,1 | -4,4 | 14 622,6 | -0,8 |
| North Atlantic tonnes | 875,9 | 3,2 | 5 263,7 | -0,1 |
| Asia tonnes | 9 371,9 | 15,0 | 54 836,8 | 4,5 |
| Domestic tonnes | 23,8 | -78,7 | 655,6 | -35,5 |
| Cargo flights, tonnes** | 1 559,4 | 4,9 | 10 990,6 | 5,5 |
| Cargo tonnes total | 14 058,1 | 8,8 | 86 369,2 | 2,9 |
| Available tonne kilometres* mill | 138,5 | 11,8 | 818,4 | 0,6 |
| Revenue tonne kilometres mill | 88,0 | 12,8 | 527,4 | 4,5 |
| Available sched.cargo tonne kms*, mill. | 130,2 | 12,6 | 761,7 | 0,9 |
| Revenue sched.cargo tonne kms, mill. | 80,3 | 13,8 | 471,2 | 4,2 |
| Cargo load factor* % | 63,7 | 0,7 | 64,5 | 2,4 |
| – North-Atlantic cargo load factor* % | 44,6 | 0,7 | 50,4 | 5,5 |
| – Asia cargo load factor* % | 68,9 | 2,0 | 69,4 | 5,0 |
| Scheduled traffic Cargo load factor*, % | 61,7 | 0,6 | 61,9 | 2,0 |
* Operational calculatory capacity
** Including purchased traffic
– Change %: Change compared to the figures of the respective periods in the previous year (p = percentage 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
