Passenger number reduces by 89% at Finnish airports in Q1

The passenger volumes of commercial air traffic at Finavia’s airports in January–March 2021 declined by 89.6% year-on-year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said a Finavia press release.

The total number of passengers was 508,038 (4,863,432). In the comparison period, air traffic was at the normal pre-pandemic level during the first two months, January and February 2020.

The passenger volume of Helsinki Airport declined by 90.6% during the period under review. The total number of passengers was 363,660. International transfer passengers accounted for 23% of the total passenger volume. Air traffic between Asia and Europe, which is vital for Helsinki Airport, was nearly at a standstill.

A total of 144,378 passengers travelled through the regional network airports in January–March 2021. The passenger volume declined by 85.7%. The state carried out competitive tendering for scheduled flights to five domestic destinations during the review period. As a result, scheduled flights from Helsinki Airport to Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kokkola-Pietarsaari, Kemi-Tornio and Kajaani will be operated by new airlines starting in May, 2021.

Revenues for January–March 2021 decreased by -70.6% and amounted to EUR 25.5 (86.7) million. The operating margin before extraordinary items declined by -170.2% to EUR -14.8 (21.1) million. The operating profit before extraordinary items was EUR -40.9 (-3.5) million, a decrease of -1,077.9%.

In the 2021 budget, the Finnish Parliament granted EUR 350 million to be used to ensure Finavia’s solvency. In March 2021, Finavia’s Extraordinary General Meeting decided to strengthen Finavia’s equity by EUR 317.15 million. The capital investment was recognised in its entirety in the company’s reserve for invested unrestricted equity.

In January–March 2021, Finavia selected three key focus areas with the aim of safeguarding the company’s financial position, enabling the resumption of air traffic and building the well-being and future of the company’s personnel. Finavia also focused on ensuring health security at its airports.

Finavia’s investments in Helsinki Airport, worth over one billion euros in total, continued faster than scheduled in January–March 2021. In addition, Finavia decided to invest EUR 5 million in the renovation of Mariehamn Airport. The renovation work to be carried out at the airport in summer 2021 includes, for example, repaving the runway and the renewal of the runway light system.

Progress was made with Finavia’s climate programme towards net zero emissions as zero-carbon district heating was deployed at Rovaniemi Airport. Finavia focuses on increasing the use of renewable energy and improving energy efficiency, as the climate impacts of airports largely arise from the heating of buildings and the energy consumption of vehicles.