Finnair Traffic Performance in July 2022

Strong passenger load factor and nearly one million passengers in July; solid cargo performance continued

In July, Finnair carried 999,600 passengers, which was 367.4% more than in July 2021. The number of passengers in July 2022 was 10.2% more than in June 2022 (month-on-month figures are not fully comparable as there was one day less in June).

The COVID-19 impact, including the strict travel restrictions imposed by many countries, still affected passenger traffic figures, and it was particularly visible in the Asian figures. The Russian airspace closed at the end of February due to the counter-sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, which resulted in route and frequency cancellations in Asian traffic.

Thanks to robust demand for cargo, Finnair, however, continued operating to most of its Asian destinations despite the longer routings. Thus, the negative impact of the airspace closure on Asian passenger traffic figures, which were already affected by the pandemic, remained moderate in July. 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 July by 204.4% year-on-year and by 6.7% month-on-month. Finnair operated, on average, 257 daily flights (cargo-only included), which was 142.5% more than in July 2021 and 0.8% more than in June 2022. The differences between capacity figures compared to July 2021 are explained by the longer average stage length of flights operated and by the larger gauge of aircraft operated. Finnair’s traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 520.8% year-on-year and by 15.8% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) increased by 44.1% points year-on-year and by 6.8% points month on month to 86.6%.

The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 100.5% year-on-year. The North Atlantic capacity increased by 256.5%. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 285.7%. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 69.0%.

RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 634.1%, in North Atlantic traffic by 1,000.9%, in European traffic by 424.8% and in domestic traffic by 81.2% year-on-year.

The PLF improved particularly in Asian traffic (79.2%) and North Atlantic traffic (90.4%) in July. The PLF was 88.7% in European traffic and 77.3% in domestic traffic.

Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 650.6% year-on-year. In North Atlantic traffic, the number of passengers increased by 975.4% to 81,700, which is a new record. In European traffic, passenger numbers increased by 390.2% and in domestic traffic by 109.2%.

Despite the Russian airspace closure, most cargo figures improved year on year and remained close to June 2022 figures in July. Available scheduled cargo tonne-kilometers increased by 96.0% year-on-year (increased by 4.0% month-on-month) and revenue scheduled cargo tonne-kilometers increased by 56.8% (decreased by 1.6% month-on-month), both due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on scheduled flights in July 2021. Cargo-related available tonne kilometres increased by 43.8% year-on-year (increased by 4.2% month-on-month) and revenue tonne-kilometers increased by 10.6% (decreased by 1.2% month-on-month).

These figures also include the cargo-only flights which were, however, almost entirely replaced by scheduled passenger flights carrying cargo in July. Strong demand for cargo capacity continued in July as the total cargo tonnes increased by 33.8% year-on-year (decreased by 1.7% month-on-month).

In July, 75.2% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (90.8%). On-time performance decreased year on year and was impacted by various capacity challenges in the European aviation system. Finnair’s Helsinki hub is functioning well, however, and Finnair’s relative on-time performance was good.  

Traffic statistics for August 2022 will be published on Tuesday 6 September 2022.

* Based on average operational cargo capacity

** Including purchased traffic