Finnair Traffic Performance in February 2023
Finnair Plc Investor News 7 March 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EET
Good passenger traffic demand with 75.2% load factor; solid cargo performance continued
In February, Finnair carried 823,500 passengers, which was 85.9% more than in February 2022 and 0.9% more than in January 2023. Month-on-month figures are, however, not fully comparable as there were three fewer days less in February.
As the COVID-19 pandemic impacts are fading, passenger traffic figures improved year-on-year. The negative impact of the Russian airspace closure on Asian passenger traffic figures was, however, visible in February 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 February by 24.8% year-on-year but decreased by 7.7% month-on-month. Finnair's traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 114.0% year-on-year but decreased by 3.8% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) increased by 31.4% points year-on-year and by 3.1% points month-on-month to 75.2%.
The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 38.1% year-on-year. The North Atlantic capacity decreased by 44.7% as the operations between Stockholm and the North American destinations were discontinued at the end of October 2022. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 31.1% whereas the Middle Eastern capacity increased by 555.1% due to the Qatar Airways cooperation commenced in November 2022. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 51.3%.
RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 225.0% year-on-year and in North Atlantic traffic by 30.2%. In European traffic, RPKs increased by 63.1%, in Middle Eastern traffic by 646.6% and in domestic traffic by 50.1%.
In February, the PLF improved particularly in Asian traffic (76.1%) and North Atlantic traffic (59.5%) year-on-year. The PLF was 79.0% in European traffic, 78.1% in Middle Eastern traffic and 73.0% in domestic traffic.
Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 222.3% year-on-year and in North Atlantic traffic by 27.1%. In European traffic, passenger numbers increased by 72.3%, in Middle Eastern traffic by 623.4% and in domestic traffic by 61.4%.
As a result of the Russian airspace closure, many cargo figures declined year-on-year in February. Available scheduled cargo tonne kilometres increased by 3.0% year-on-year but revenue scheduled cargo tonne kilometres decreased by 2.7%. Good cargo performance continued, however, in February, even though the total cargo tonnes (including cargo-only operations) decreased by 20.8% year-on-year as Finnair operated several cargo-only flights during February 2022. Month-on-month increase was 4.5% despite the shorter month.
In February, 79.7% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (74.2%).
Traffic statistics for March 2023 will be published on Thursday 6 April 2023.
| Finnair Traffic Performance February 2023 | ||||
| Month | % Change | YTD | % Change | |
| Total traffic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 823.5 | 85.9 | 1,639.7 | 83.3 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 2,669.5 | 24.8 | 5,562.1 | 21.9 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 2,008.5 | 114.0 | 4,096.0 | 101.6 |
| Passenger load factor % | 75.2 | 31.4p | 73.6 | 29.1p |
| Cargo tonnes total | 9,880.3 | -20.8 | 19,336.5 | -22.7 |
| Available tonne kilometres mill | 379.5 | 0.7 | 792.3 | -0.1 |
| Revenue tonne kilometres mill | 222.2 | 29.0 | 448.2 | 25.2 |
| Asia | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 100.8 | 222.3 | 209.3 | 181.6 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 991.6 | 38.1 | 2,069.2 | 31.4 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 755.0 | 225.0 | 1,565.7 | 176.6 |
| Passenger load factor % | 76.1 | 43.8p | 75.7 | 39.7p |
| Europe | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 457.3 | 72.3 | 905.0 | 71.0 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 937.5 | 31.1 | 1,960.0 | 27.6 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 741.0 | 63.1 | 1,471.7 | 65.4 |
| Passenger load factor % | 79.0 | 15.5p | 75.1 | 17.2p |
| North Atlantic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 23.2 | 27.1 | 50.5 | 7.7 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 303.7 | -44.7 | 626.8 | -43.7 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 180.6 | 30.2 | 393.2 | 9.6 |
| Passenger load factor % | 59.5 | 34.2p | 62.7 | 30.5p |
| Middle East | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 45.7 | 623.4 | 93.5 | 680.9 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 259.9 | 555.1 | 546.3 | 618.3 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 202.9 | 646.6 | 415.7 | 687.0 |
| Passenger load factor % | 78.1 | 9.6p | 76.1 | 6.6p |
| Domestic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 196.5 | 61.4 | 381.4 | 64.4 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 176.8 | 51.3 | 359.9 | 37.5 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 129.1 | 50.1 | 249.6 | 51.9 |
| Passenger load factor % | 73.0 | -0.6p | 69.4 | 6.6p |
| Cargo traffic | ||||
| Europe tonnes | 1,332.9 | 57.8 | 2,610.5 | 35.7 |
| North Atlantic tonnes | 1,218.4 | -57.6 | 2,530.6 | -50.4 |
| Middle East tonnes | 1,970.0 | 514.8 | 3,785.8 | 465.9 |
| Asia tonnes | 5,327.2 | 7.3 | 10,319.0 | -1.7 |
| Domestic tonnes | 31.9 | 11.8 | 63.3 | 8.9 |
| Cargo scheduled traffic total tonnes | 9,880.3 | 9.4 | 19,309.3 | 5.8 |
| Cargo flights tonnes** | 0.0 | -100.0 | 27.2 | -99.6 |
| Cargo traffic tonnes total | 9,880.3 | -20.8 | 19,336.5 | -22.7 |
| Available tonne kilometres* mill | 106.6 | -21.8 | 222.5 | -21.6 |
| Revenue tonne kilometres mill | 60.9 | -31.2 | 119.4 | -32.4 |
| Available sched. cargo tonne kms* mill | 106.6 | 3.0 | 222.1 | 1.8 |
| Revenue sched. cargo tonne kms mill | 60.9 | -2.7 | 119.2 | -5.1 |
| Cargo load factor* % | 57.1 | -7.8p | 53.7 | -8.6p |
| - North-Atlantic cargo load factor* % | 54.8 | -6.4p | 53.9 | -0.1p |
| - Asia cargo load factor* % | 61.9 | -2.9p | 58.2 | -6.4p |
| Scheduled traffic cargo load factor* % | 57.1 | -3.4p | 53.7 | -3.9p |
* Based on average operational cargo capacity
** 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.
- Overall load factor: Share of revenue tonne kilometres of available tonne kilometres.
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