Finnair loses 83% passengers in March YoY

The national flag carrier Finnair this March carried 86,300 passengers or 82.7% less than the number of passengers it carried in March 2020, even though the COVID-19 impact became already visible by then.

The number of passengers in March was 1.1% less than that in February, said Finnair in a press release on Wednesday.

The impacts of COVID-19, including the exceptionally strict travel restrictions imposed by several countries, still affected all passenger traffic figures.

The overall capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) decreased in March by 81.3% year on year.

Finnair on average operated 74 daily flights (cargo-only included), which was 34.6% of the corresponding figure in March 2020.

Finnair’s traffic measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) decreased by 92.0%. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) decreased by 33.4% points to 24.6%.

The drop in ASK in Asian traffic was 78.7%. Finnair’s North Atlantic capacity declined by 91.4%. In European traffic, the ASKs were down by 85.0%. The ASKs in domestic traffic declined 65.3%.

RPKs decreased in Asian traffic by 96.4%, in North Atlantic traffic by 99.3%, in European traffic by 89.4%, and in domestic traffic by 59.6%.

The PLF was 9.9% in Asian traffic but it was supported by the very strong cargo operations and a high cargo load factor. The PLF was 5.3% in North Atlantic traffic, 39.6% in European traffic, and 58.9% in domestic traffic.

Passenger numbers decreased in Asian traffic by 96.2%, in North Atlantic traffic by 99.2%, in European traffic by 85.5%, and in domestic traffic by 65.1%.

However, cargo-related available tonne-kilometres decreased only by 16.6% and revenue tonne-kilometres increased by 26.5% as they both also include the cargo-only flights operated mainly between Europe and Asia as well as Europe and North America.

Compared to February last, cargo-only tonnes were up by 36.9% and the total cargo tonnage by 30.0%, as demand for cargo capacity was very strong, especially in Asian traffic. As a result, the cargo load factor was clearly higher than that in the corresponding period of 2020.

In March last, 93.1% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule.