For the first time since the pandemic, Finnair has handled over one million passengers in a single month as the path to recovery continues.
The Nordic carrier flew 1,062,500 passengers during July 2023, the highest figure since February 2020.
Such figures are up 6.3% compared to the same period last year and 6.5% in the previous month, June 2023.
Capacity for Finnair Has Increased Exponentially…
Finnair’s overall capacity increased in July by 12% year-on-year and by 3.9% month-on-month.
Finnair’s traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 9.8% year-on-year and by 9.2% month-on-month.
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The 54.5% year-on-year increase in Asian ASKs came as a result of Finnair’s expansion in Japan and South Korea and a new route from Helsinki to Mumbai.
Capacity in the Middle East also surged by 1,520.1% following the airline’s new partnership with Qatar Airways, which began in November 2022 and resulted in North American capacity falling by 42.9% due to the suspension of transatlantic routes from Stockholm.
In Europe, ASKs rose by 1.8% year-on-year, while domestic traffic increased by 10.6%.
Finnair’s Passenger Load Factor (PLF) also continued to grow, rising by 4.1% points month-on-month to 84.8%, and just 1.8% points short of July 2022.
During the month, the Nordic airline recorded a passenger load factor of 85% in Asia, 87% in North America, 86% in Europe, 77.6% in the Middle East, and 69.6% for domestic flights within Finland.
The airline’s passenger numbers increased by 912.6% in the Middle East year-on-year, with traffic to Asia also increasing by nearly two-thirds (64.2%). European traffic also saw an increase of 2%, with domestic traffic remaining stable (-0.1% YoY change). In North America, traffic levels fell by 45.3%.
Overall, Finnair’s path to recovery is going well, irrespective of external pressures such as Russian airspace closures.
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