December passenger traffic figures improved year-on-year as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts have mostly faded and as the Russian airspace was closed during the comparison period. The negative impact of the Russian airspace closure especially on Asian passenger traffic figures was, however, still visible in December 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic figures. The distance-based reported traffic figures do not take into account longer routings caused by the airspace closure as they are based on Great-Circle distance.
The overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased in December by 7.8% year-on-year and by 8.5% month-on-month. Finnair's traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), increased by 5.1% year-on-year and by 8.4% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) declined by 1.8% points year-on-year and by 0.1% points month-on-month to 70.9%.
The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 14.9% year-on-year explained e.g. by the additional capacity to Japan and South Korea. The North Atlantic capacity decreased by 9.1%. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 8.3%. The Middle Eastern capacity grew by 4.8% as the flights between Helsinki and Doha related to the Qatar Airways cooperation commenced in mid-December 2022. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 1.0%.
RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 8.0% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 11.4%. They increased by 6.8% in European traffic, by 11.8% in Middle Eastern traffic and by 1.3% in domestic traffic.
In December, the PLF was 68.1% in Asian traffic, 69.6% in North Atlantic traffic, 73.9% in European traffic, 74.8% in Middle Eastern traffic and 68.7% in domestic traffic.
Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 5.2% year-on-year but decreased in North Atlantic traffic by 10.8%. The number of passengers increased by 8.1% in European traffic, by 9.8% in Middle Eastern traffic and by 1.2% in domestic traffic.
Many cargo figures increased year-on-year in December due to Qatar Airways cooperation as well as increased Asian and European capacity. Cargo carried on flights as a part of the cooperation with Qatar Airways, where cargo capacity is fully allocated to and sold by Qatar Airways, is reported by Finnair under Middle East cargo figures. Available cargo tonne kilometres increased by 14.4% and revenue cargo tonne kilometres by 15.8% year-on-year. The total cargo tonnes increased by 16.5% year-on-year and by 3.6% month-on-month.
In December, 64.7% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (67.8%). On-time performance was mainly impacted by severe weather conditions.
Traffic statistics for January 2024 will be published on Wednesday 7 February 2024.
| Finnair Traffic Performance December 2023 | ||||
| Month | % Change | YTD | % Change | |
| Total traffic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 878.2 | 5.4 | 10,983.3 | 20.8 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 3,101.9 | 7.8 | 36,154.5 | 15.5 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 2,200.1 | 5.1 | 27,626.4 | 30.6 |
| Passenger load factor % | 70.9 | - 1.8p | 76.4 | 8.8p |
| Cargo tonnes total | 12,584.2 | 16.5 | 135,370.1 | 10.3 |
| Available tonne kilometres mill | 457.5 | 11.2 | 5,229.3 | 14.6 |
| Revenue tonne kilometres mill | 273.9 | 8.0 | 3,286.2 | 22.7 |
| Asia | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 109.3 | 5.2 | 1,291.3 | 73.0 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1,226.4 | 14.9 | 12,752.0 | 42.4 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 835.4 | 8.0 | 9,755.9 | 74.6 |
| Passenger load factor % | 68.1 | - 4.3p | 76.5 | 14.1p |
| Europe | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 496.7 | 8.1 | 7,096.0 | 13.7 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 1,095.3 | 8.3 | 14,760.0 | 8.2 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 809.7 | 6.8 | 11,618.9 | 13.4 |
| Passenger load factor % | 73.9 | - 1.0p | 78.7 | 3.6p |
| North Atlantic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 28.8 | - 10.8 | 397.5 | - 24.2 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 320.6 | - 9.1 | 4,162.9 | - 38.3 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 223.0 | - 11.4 | 3,019.7 | - 23.5 |
| Passenger load factor % | 69.6 | - 1.8p | 72.5 | 14.0p |
| Middle East | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 44.1 | 9.8 | 495.6 | 326.3 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 267.3 | 4.8 | 3,054.4 | 342.2 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 200.0 | 11.8 | 2,211.9 | 354.3 |
| Passenger load factor % | 74.8 | 4.7p | 72.4 | 1.9p |
| Domestic | ||||
| Passengers 1,000 | 199.3 | 1.2 | 1,702.9 | 15.9 |
| Available seat kilometres mill | 192.3 | 1.0 | 1,425.3 | 12.1 |
| Revenue passenger kilometres mill | 132.1 | 1.3 | 1,019.8 | 14.0 |
| Passenger load factor % | 68.7 | 0.2p | 71.5 | 1.2p |
| Cargo traffic | ||||
| - Europe tonnes | 2,156.5 | 29.5 | 23,692.4 | 13.8 |
| - North Atlantic tonnes | 1,327.2 | - 8.0 | 15,083.0 | - 50.8 |
| - Middle East tonnes | 1,958.5 | 15.5 | 22,632.4 | 415.0 |
| - Asia tonnes | 7,119.5 | 20.0 | 73,390.8 | 27.8 |
| - Domestic tonnes | 22.4 | - 35.0 | 335.9 | - 6.8 |
| - Cargo flights tonnes* | 0.0 | - 100.0 | 235.7 | - 97.4 |
| Cargo traffic tonnes total | 12,584.2 | 16.5 | 135,370.1 | 10.3 |
| Available cargo tonne kilometres** mill | 132.2 | 14.4 | 1,442.8 | 12.6 |
| Revenue cargo tonne kilometres mill | 77.2 | 15.8 | 815.6 | 3.5 |
| Cargo load factor** % | 58.4 | 0.7p | 56.5 | - 5.0p |
* Including purchased traffic
** Based on average operational cargo capacity