Finnair Traffic Performance in November 2023
Finnair Plc Investor News 8 December 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EET
Increase in passenger traffic numbers year-on-year, expected seasonal decline month-on-month
In November, Finnair carried 811,900 passengers, which was 8.1% more than in November 2022. This is 11.8% less than in October 2023 due to normal seasonality. Further, month-on-month figures are not fully comparable as there was one day less in November.
November 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 November 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 November by 14.4% year-on-year but decreased by 7.4% month-on-month. Finnair's traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 13.6% year-on-year but declined by 14.9% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) declined by 0.5% points year-on-year and by 6.3% points month-on-month to 71.0%.
The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 20.5% year-on-year explained e.g. by the additional capacity to Japan and South Korea. The North Atlantic capacity decreased by 3.2%. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 11.9%. The Middle Eastern capacity grew by 27.8% as the flights between Helsinki and Doha related to the Qatar Airways cooperation commenced only in mid-December 2022. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 5.6%.
RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 25.9% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 7.0%. They increased by 6.1% in European traffic, by 35.4% in Middle Eastern traffic and by 1.7% in domestic traffic.
In November, the PLF was 71.2% in Asian traffic, 63.8% in North Atlantic traffic, 73.8% in European traffic, 68.7% in Middle Eastern traffic and 65.6% in domestic traffic.
Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 22.3% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 6.5%. The number of passengers increased by 7.3% in European traffic, by 32.2% in Middle Eastern traffic and by 0.3% in domestic traffic.
Many cargo figures increased year-on-year in November due to Qatar Airways cooperation and increased Asian 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 24.8% and revenue cargo tonne kilometres by 21.0% year-on-year. The total cargo tonnes increased by 20.5% year-on-year but decreased by 3.2% month-on-month due to a shorter month.
In November, 79.3% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (86.8%).
Traffic statistics for December 2023 will be published on Friday 5 January 2024.
| Finnair Traffic Performance November 2023 | ||||
| Month | % Change | YTD | % Change | |
| Total traffic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 811.9 | 8.1 | 10,105.1 | 22.3 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 2,859.2 | 14.4 | 33,052.5 | 16.3 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 2,029.2 | 13.6 | 25,426.2 | 33.4 |
| Passenger load factor % | 71.0 | - 0.5p | 76.9 | 9.8p |
| Cargo tonnes total | 12,152.6 | 20.5 | 122,785.9 | 9.7 |
| Available tonne kilometres mill | 422.5 | 19.2 | 4,771.8 | 14.9 |
| Revenue tonne kilometres mill | 256.5 | 15.8 | 3,012.3 | 24.2 |
| Asia | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 104.0 | 22.3 | 1,182.0 | 83.9 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1,108.0 | 20.5 | 11,525.5 | 46.2 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 788.9 | 25.9 | 8,920.5 | 85.4 |
| Passenger load factor % | 71.2 | 3.0p | 77.4 | 16.4p |
| Europe | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 495.2 | 7.3 | 6,599.3 | 14.2 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1,084.9 | 11.9 | 13,664.7 | 8.2 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 800.2 | 6.1 | 10,809.3 | 14.0 |
| Passenger load factor % | 73.8 | - 4.1p | 79.1 | 4.0p |
| North Atlantic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 22.4 | - 6.5 | 368.7 | - 25.1 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 269.6 | - 3.2 | 3,842.3 | - 39.9 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 171.9 | - 7.0 | 2,796.8 | - 24.3 |
| Passenger load factor % | 63.8 | - 2.6p | 72.8 | 15.0p |
| Middle East | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 39.4 | 32.2 | 451.4 | 493.6 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 259.7 | 27.8 | 2,787.1 | 539.9 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 178.4 | 35.4 | 2,012.0 | 553.1 |
| Passenger load factor % | 68.7 | 3.9p | 72.2 | 1.5p |
| Domestic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 150.9 | 0.3 | 1,503.7 | 18.2 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 136.9 | 5.6 | 1,233.0 | 14.0 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 89.8 | 1.7 | 887.7 | 16.2 |
| Passenger load factor % | 65.6 | - 2.6p | 72.0 | 1.3p |
| Cargo traffic | ||||
| - Europe tonnes | 1,982.0 | 23.5 | 21,535.8 | 12.4 |
| - North Atlantic tonnes | 1,195.8 | - 10.9 | 13,755.8 | - 52.9 |
| - Middle East tonnes | 2,018.5 | 37.1 | 20,673.9 | 666.1 |
| - Asia tonnes | 6,887.8 | 23.3 | 66,271.2 | 28.7 |
| - Domestic tonnes | 26.3 | - 26.1 | 313.5 | - 3.8 |
| - Cargo flights tonnes* | 42.3 | 11.1 | 235.7 | - 97.4 |
| Cargo traffic tonnes total | 12,152.6 | 20.5 | 122,785.9 | 9.7 |
| Available cargo tonne kilometres** mill | 122.5 | 24.8 | 1,310.6 | 12.4 |
| Revenue cargo tonne kilometres mill | 75.0 | 21.0 | 738.4 | 2.3 |
| Cargo load factor** % | 61.2 | - 2.0p | 56.3 | - 5.5p |
* Including purchased traffic
** Based on average operational cargo capacity
- 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.
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