Finnair Plc                Investor News              5 January 2024 at 9:00 a.m. EET

Increase in passenger traffic numbers year-on-year and month-on-month, on-time performance impacted by severe weather conditions

In December, Finnair carried 878,200 passengers, which was 5.4% more than in December 2022 and 8.2% more than in November 2023. Month-on-month figures are not fully comparable as there was one day less in November.

December passenger traffic figures improved year-on-year as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts have mostly faded and as the Russian airspace was closed during the comparison period. The negative impact of the Russian airspace closure especially on Asian passenger traffic figures was, however, still visible in December 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic figures. 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.

The overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased in December by 7.8% year-on-year and by 8.5% month-on-month. Finnair's traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 5.1% year-on-year and by 8.4% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) declined by 1.8% points year-on-year and by 0.1% points month-on-month to 70.9%.

The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 14.9% year-on-year explained e.g. by the additional capacity to Japan and South Korea. The North Atlantic capacity decreased by 9.1%. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 8.3%. The Middle Eastern capacity grew by 4.8% as the flights between Helsinki and Doha related to the Qatar Airways cooperation commenced in mid-December 2022. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 1.0%.

RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 8.0% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 11.4%. They increased by 6.8% in European traffic, by 11.8% in Middle Eastern traffic and by 1.3% in domestic traffic.

In December, the PLF was 68.1% in Asian traffic, 69.6% in North Atlantic traffic, 73.9% in European traffic, 74.8% in Middle Eastern traffic and 68.7% in domestic traffic.

Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 5.2% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 10.8%. The number of passengers increased by 8.1% in European traffic, by 9.8% in Middle Eastern traffic and by 1.2% in domestic traffic.

Many cargo figures increased year-on-year in December due to Qatar Airways cooperation as well as increased Asian and European capacity. Cargo carried on flights as a part of the cooperation with Qatar Airways, where cargo capacity is fully allocated to and sold by Qatar Airways, is reported by Finnair under Middle East cargo figures. Available cargo tonne kilometres increased by 14.4% and revenue cargo tonne kilometres by 15.8% year-on-year. The total cargo tonnes increased by 16.5% year-on-year and by 3.6% month-on-month.  

In December, 64.7% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (67.8%). On-time performance was mainly impacted by severe weather conditions.

Traffic statistics for January 2024 will be published on Wednesday 7 February 2024.

Finnair Traffic
Performance December
2023
Month % Change YTD % Change
Total traffic
Passengers 1,000  878.2  5.4 10,983.3  20.8
Available seat 3,101.9  7.8 36,154.5  15.5
kilometres mill
Revenue passenger 2,200.1  5.1 27,626.4  30.6
kilometres mill
Passenger load  70.9 - 1.8p  76.4  8.8p
factor %
Cargo tonnes total 12,584.2  16.5 135,370.1  10.3
Available tonne  457.5  11.2 5,229.3  14.6
kilometres mill
Revenue tonne  273.9  8.0 3,286.2  22.7
kilometres mill

Asia
Passengers 1,000  109.3  5.2 1,291.3  73.0
Available seat 1,226.4  14.9 12,752.0  42.4
kilometres mill
Revenue passenger  835.4  8.0 9,755.9  74.6
kilometres mill
Passenger load  68.1 - 4.3p  76.5  14.1p
factor %

Europe
Passengers 1,000  496.7  8.1 7,096.0  13.7
Available seat 1,095.3  8.3 14,760.0  8.2
kilometres mill
Revenue passenger  809.7  6.8 11,618.9  13.4
kilometres mill
Passenger load  73.9 - 1.0p  78.7  3.6p
factor %

North Atlantic
Passengers 1,000  28.8 - 10.8  397.5 - 24.2
Available seat  320.6 - 9.1 4,162.9 - 38.3
kilometres mill
Revenue passenger  223.0 - 11.4 3,019.7 - 23.5
kilometres mill
Passenger load  69.6 - 1.8p  72.5  14.0p
factor %

Middle East
Passengers 1,000  44.1  9.8  495.6  326.3
Available seat  267.3  4.8 3,054.4  342.2
kilometres mill
Revenue passenger  200.0  11.8 2,211.9  354.3
kilometres mill
Passenger load  74.8  4.7p  72.4  1.9p
factor %

Domestic
Passengers 1,000  199.3  1.2 1,702.9  15.9
Available seat  192.3  1.0 1,425.3  12.1
kilometres mill
Revenue passenger  132.1  1.3 1,019.8  14.0
kilometres mill
Passenger load  68.7  0.2p  71.5  1.2p
factor %

Cargo traffic
- Europe tonnes 2,156.5  29.5 23,692.4  13.8
- North Atlantic 1,327.2 - 8.0 15,083.0 - 50.8
tonnes
- Middle East tonnes 1,958.5  15.5 22,632.4  415.0
- Asia tonnes 7,119.5  20.0 73,390.8  27.8
- Domestic tonnes  22.4 - 35.0  335.9 - 6.8
- Cargo flights 0.0 - 100.0  235.7 - 97.4
tonnes*
Cargo traffic tonnes 12,584.2  16.5 135,370.1  10.3
total
Available cargo  132.2  14.4 1,442.8  12.6
tonne kilometres**
mill
Revenue cargo tonne  77.2  15.8  815.6  3.5
kilometres mill
Cargo load factor**  58.4  0.7p  56.5 - 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.