Despite airspace challenges, Finnair’s overall traffic rose by 7.5% in August 2024
In August, Finnair carried 1,062,400 passengers, which is 9.5% more than in August 2023.
The overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased in August by 9.3% year-on-year as additional narrow-body capacity was deployed by Finnair after the wet lease outs to British Airways ended in March 2024. In addition, the capacity growth in Asian traffic was strong. If wet lease outs are included, capacity increased by 10.9% due to the co-operation with Qantas. Finnair’s traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 7.5%. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) declined by 1.3% points to 78.6%. The distance-based reported traffic figures do not take into account longer routings caused by the airspace closure as they are based on Great-Circle distance in accordance with the industry practice.
The ASKs in Asian traffic were up by 11.2% year-on-year due to increased capacity to Japan, including added frequencies to Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. In North Atlantic traffic, ASKs increased by 2.6% due to added frequencies to Dallas. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 11.8% as majority of the increase in narrow-body capacity was allocated to Europe. The Middle Eastern capacity declined by 5.1% mainly due to temporarily ceased operations to Israel. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 16.9% due to the additional narrow-body capacity.
RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 11.8% year-on-year. They increased by 6.0% in North Atlantic traffic, by 7.9% in European traffic and by 10.3% in domestic traffic whereas they decreased by 12.3% in Middle Eastern traffic.
In August, the PLF was 85.4% in Asian traffic, 84.5% in North Atlantic traffic, 74.0% in European traffic, 72.2% in Middle Eastern traffic and 62.6% in domestic traffic.
Passenger numbers increased by 11.5% in Asian traffic, by 5.1% in North Atlantic traffic, by 11.0% in European traffic and by 10.0% in domestic traffic. They decreased by 14.0% in Middle Eastern traffic.
In August, 76.7% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (81.3%). The on-time performance decline was due to airspace and air traffic control capacity restrictions across Europe.
| Finnair Traffic Performance August 2024 | ||||
| Month | % Change | YTD | % Change | |
| Total traffic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 1,062.4 | 9.5 | 7,740.1 | 3.9 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 3,442.9 | 9.3 | 25,673.7 | 6.4 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 2,705.3 | 7.5 | 19,386.4 | 3.7 |
| Passenger load factor % | 78.6 | – 1.3p | 75.5 | – 2.0p |
| Cargo tonnes total | 12,117.6 | 11.5 | 96,632.7 | 11.5 |
| Available tonne kilometres mill | 497.0 | 10.2 | 3,739.6 | 8.0 |
| Revenue tonne kilometres mill | 315.0 | 8.5 | 2,310.1 | 5.3 |
| Available seat kilometres incl. wet lease out mill | 3,652.7 | 10.9 | 27,365.5 | 7.3 |
| Asia | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 127.8 | 11.5 | 894.6 | 3.2 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1,141.1 | 11.2 | 9,104.7 | 8.2 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 974.2 | 11.8 | 6,891.1 | 5.6 |
| Passenger load factor % | 85.4 | 0.5p | 75.7 | – 1.9p |
| Europe | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 745.2 | 11.0 | 5,148.6 | 6.5 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1,568.7 | 11.8 | 10,778.5 | 9.8 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 1,161.0 | 7.9 | 8,191.7 | 4.2 |
| Passenger load factor % | 74.0 | – 2.6p | 76.0 | – 4.1p |
| North Atlantic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 45.3 | 5.1 | 286.3 | 1.9 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 406.3 | 2.6 | 2,859.8 | – 2.0 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 343.2 | 6.0 | 2,216.9 | 3.9 |
| Passenger load factor % | 84.5 | 2.7p | 77.5 | 4.5p |
| Middle East | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 37.1 | – 14.0 | 309.9 | – 7.7 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 233.3 | – 5.1 | 1,919.9 | – 6.2 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 168.4 | – 12.3 | 1,405.5 | – 5.8 |
| Passenger load factor % | 72.2 | – 5.9p | 73.2 | 0.3p |
| Domestic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 107.0 | 10.0 | 1,100.7 | – 2.8 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 93.5 | 16.9 | 1,010.8 | 7.7 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 58.5 | 10.3 | 681.3 | 0.2 |
| Passenger load factor % | 62.6 | – 3.7p | 67.4 | – 5.0p |
* Including purchased traffic
- Change %: Change compared to the figures of the respective periods in the previous year (p = points, N/A = not available).
- Available seat kilometres. ASK: Total number of seats available multiplied by 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.
The article Despite airspace challenges, Finnair’s overall traffic rose by 7.5% in August 2024 first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.