Strong growth continues: number of passengers increased by 10.7% September

In September, Finnair's overall capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres increased by 10.6 per cent year ‐ on ‐ year, and traffic measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres grew by 16.9 per cent. The number of passengers carried in September was 1.08 million, corresponding to an increase of 10.7 per cent year-on-year. The passenger load factor increased by 4.6 percentage points to 85.3 per cent.

The capacity in Finnair’s largest traffic area, Asia, increased by 15.4 per cent in September and traffic grew by 21.5 per cent. The passenger load factor increased by 4.5 percentage points to 88.9 per cent. The selection of routes was mainly unchanged year-on-year, but there were more frequencies to many destinations, Tokyo and Hong Kong in particular.

The capacity in North Atlantic traffic was broadly unchanged (ASK -0.3 per cent), but traffic increased by 17.9 per cent: the passenger load factor rose by as much as 13.4 percentage points to 86.6 per cent. The most significant year-on-year changes in the flight programme were the suspension of the Miami route for the summer and the launch of a new San Francisco route, operated three times a week from the beginning of June until the end of September.

Finnair’s capacity in European traffic increased by 8.6 per cent reflecting new seasonal routes opened for the summer as well as four new A321 narrow-body aircraft. Traffic measured in RPK grew by 12.3 per cent year-on-year. Domestic capacity decreased 3.0 per cent. However, traffic decreased slightly less than that (RPK -1.2 per cent) and the passenger load factor rose.

Available Scheduled Cargo Tonne Kilometres increased by 10.5 per cent and Revenue Scheduled Cargo Tonne Kilometres increased by 15.9 per cent. The strongest growth markets year-on-year were Japan, Germany, Sweden, Hong Kong and the main Chinese destinations. Finnair’s total cargo capacity also included three weekly freighter flights between Helsinki and Brussels, operated by DHL as well as cargo space rented on Japan Airlines’ daily flights between Tokyo and Helsinki.

In September, 87.2 per cent of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (90.9).

According to preliminary data, Finnair’s unit revenue, or RASK (total Group revenue divided by ASK), increased in July–September by 3.3 per cent year-on-year and totalled 7.29 euro cents.

“The third quarter was very strong in terms of traffic performance. Our capacity increased by over 10 per cent in each month, but demand growth nevertheless clearly exceeded capacity growth. It is also worth pointing out that our unit revenue increased while load factors improved”, says Finnair CFO Pekka Vähähyyppä.

Traffic statistics for October 2017 will be published on Tuesday, 7 November 2017.