In June, Finnair carried 907,300 passengers, which was 609.4% more than in June 2021.
The airline noted that 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 June. The reported traffic figures do not take into account longer routings caused by the airspace closure.
The overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased in June by 352.8% year-on-year and by 2.0% month-on-month. Finnair operated, on average, 255 daily flights (cargo-only included), which was 214.8% more than in June 2021 but 2.3% less than in May 2022. The differences between capacity figures compared to June 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 941.7% year-on-year and by 31.5% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) increased by 45.1% points year-on-year and by 17.9% points month-on-month to 79.8%.
The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 163.2% year-on-year. The North Atlantic capacity increased by 508.5%. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 521.7%. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 150.6%.
RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 1,277.0%, in North Atlantic traffic by 1,771.2%, in European traffic by 785.1% and in domestic traffic by 179.2% year-on-year.
The PLF improved particularly in Asian traffic (75.3%) and North Atlantic traffic (78.5%) in June. The PLF was 82.5% in European traffic and 81.4% in domestic traffic.
Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 1,282.5% year-on-year. In North Atlantic traffic, the number of passengers increased by 1,728.8% to 67,000, which is a new record. In European traffic, passenger numbers increase by 661.9% and in domestic traffic by 229.7%.
Despite the Russian airspace closure, most cargo figures improved year-on-year, although June figures were slightly behind May 2022. Available scheduled cargo tonne kilometres increased by 185.9% year-on-year (decreased by 10.1% month-on-month) and revenue scheduled cargo tonne kilometres increased by 126.1% (decreased by 11.4% month-on-month), both due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on scheduled flights, especially in Asian traffic, in June 2021. Cargo-related available tonne kilometres increased by 59.4% year-on-year (decreased by 10.3% month-on-month) and revenue tonne kilometres increased by 24.6% (decreased by 11.3% month-on-month). These figures also include the cargo-only flights which were, however, almost entirely replaced by scheduled passenger flights carrying cargo in June. Strong demand for cargo capacity continued in June as the total cargo tonnes increased by 51.3% year-on-year (decreased by 8.0% month-on-month).
In June, 72.8% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (87.9%). 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.