Finnair has reported a slight growth in traffic for January 2024 against the same month a year previously. This is despite operations being affected by a bout of severe weather events across its network during the month.
Despite the meteorological issues faced by the Helsinki-based carrier, the airline was “content” with its January 2024 performance, given that the month represents a traditionally slow period for travel in the post-holiday period.
In January 2024, Finnair carried 819,800 passengers, a year-on-year increase of 0.4% overall. Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 0.6% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 4.0%. They increased by 3.4% in European traffic but declined by 2.7% in Middle Eastern traffic and by 5.2% in domestic traffic.
Finnair’s traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 1.3% overall. RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 3.0% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 3.7%. RPKs increased by 2.2% in European traffic but decreased by 0.9% in Middle Eastern traffic and by 2.4% in domestic traffic.
The airline’s overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased in January by 5.6% year-on-year. Even considering aircraft wet-leased out to other carriers, Finnair’s capacity increased by 4.0%.
The biggest ASK increase was on Finnair’s Asian route network which saw a 13.1% year-on-year rise. This was down to additional capacity being laid on to Japan and South Korea. Meanwhile, the North Atlantic capacity decreased by 5.8%.
In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 5.9%. The Middle Eastern capacity declined by 7.3% mainly due to canceled flights to Israel following the outbreak of war in Gaza in October 2023. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 0.4%.
The airline’s network Passenger Load Factor (PLF) declined by 3.0% points to 69.2% overall. In January 2024, the PLF was 68.5% in Asian traffic, 67.3% in North Atlantic traffic, 68.9% in European traffic, 79.4% in Middle Eastern traffic, and 63.9% in domestic traffic.
The total cargo tonnes increased by 17.5% year-on-year in January due to increased Asian and European capacity. Revenue cargo tonne kilometres increased by 16.3%.
In January, 66.2% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (81.2%). On-time performance was mainly impacted by severe weather conditions which affected numerous flights both in Finland itself as well as across the carrier’s route network.
According to ch-aviation, Finnair currently operates a fleet of 80 aircraft. This includes five Airbus A319s, ten A320s, 16 A321s, eight A330-300s, and 17 A350-900s. For regional routes, the carrier operates a fleet of 12 ATR72-500s.