Finnair has altered its full year guidance for the year, with the airline now expecting comparable earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the range of €120 - €170 million ($130-$184 million), in comparison with guidance released at the start of the quarter which estimated an EBIT of between €110 - €180 million ($119 - $195 million).
Despite this adjustment the airline remains confident that it will achieve revenue for 2024 in the range of €3–€3.2 billion ($3.2 billion - $3.4 billion).
The Finnish flag carrier reported revenue for the third quarter was relatively flat in comparison to the third quarter of 2023, increasing by just 0.1% to €818.3 million ($887.2 million). The airline reported a comparable operating profit of €71.5 million ($77.5 million) for the quarter, down from €94.3 million ($102.2 million) in the comparable quarter of 2023.
Net cash flow from operating activities was €98.9 million ($107.2 million), up from €95.5 million ($103.9 million). Gross capital expenditure totalled €49.9 million ($54.1 million), down from €73.2 million ($79.3 million) in 2023.
Turkka Kuusisto, Finnair CEO. commented “3.2 million customers travelled on our flights during the third quarter, an increase of 9.4 per cent year-on-year. We increased our own capacity by 9.1 per cent year-on-year by returning leased out narrow-body aircraft to our own use."
Ancillary revenue increased by 25.7% and cargo revenue by 28.8%. Kuusisto said that “cost control and continuous improvement continue to play an important role in securing our competitiveness”.
Finnair’s cooperation with Qatar Airways on flights between Stockholm and Copenhagen and Doha will end in its current form in mid-January, and the airline confirmed that the A330 aircraft on these routes will return to Finnair's own traffic as the cooperation continues as codeshare cooperation.
The airline reported an increase in available seat kilometres (ASKs) of 9.1%, reaching 10.2 billion kilometres, up from 9.3 billion the previous year. Including wet lease operations, ASKs rose by 11.1%.
Despite the growth in passenger numbers, the airline’s load factor dipped by 1.4 percentage points, settling at 79.5%, down from 80.9% in the previous period.
Looking away from the three months between July and September, in the first nine months of the year, airline revenues edged up by 0.2% to €2.27 billion ($2.46 billion) in the latest reporting period, slightly above last year’s €2.26 billion ($2.45 billion). Despite the revenue increase, unit revenue (RASK) dropped by 6.1% to 7.84 cents, compared to 8.34 cents in the same period last year. Unit cost (CASK) also fell by 3.5% to 7.48 cents from 7.75 cents.
The airline's comparable operating result declined to €103.5 million ($112.2 million), down from €161.4 million ($175 million), while its operating result slipped to €102.1 million ($110.7 million) from €164.1 million ($177.9 million) in the previous period.
Passenger numbers have risen by 4.6% to 8.8 million in the first nine months of the year, up from 8.4 million in 2023, while ASKs increased by 6.7% to 28.9 billion kilometres, compared to 27.1 billion last year. When wet leases are included, ASKs rose by 7.7%.
Finnair also reported that risks related to the impact of inflation and higher interest rates on demand and costs remaining elevated, are causing uncertainty in the operating environment. International conflicts and global political instability also cause uncertainty in the operating environment, particularly in the form of fuel price volatility.