Number of passengers at Finnish airports falls by 431% in Q1 2022

The total number of passengers at Finnish airports was 2.7 million from January to March in 2022, which is 431 % lower compared to the stipulated period of the previous year, said country´s airports operator Finavia.

Revenues for January–March 2022 decreased by 153.4 % and amounted to EUR 64.7 million, said Finavia in a press release on Tuesday.

At Helsinki Airport, the total number of passengers was 2.0 million, with passengers on international flights accounting for nearly 80 per cent of this total.

A total of 0.6 million passengers travelled through Finavia’s regional network airports in January–March 2022.

The number of passengers increased due to the strong winter holiday season especially at Finavia’s airports in Lapland, where the number of passengers was 0.4 million.

Finavia continued the measures initiated in 2021 to promote the recovery of the company’s business. The objectives were to safeguard the company’s financial position, enable the resumption of air traffic and build the well-being and future of the company’s personnel. Health security measures continued at airports as part of passenger processes.

At the end of February, Russia started a war against Ukraine which resulted in the EU countries and the United States to impose sanctions against Russia. As a counter-sanction, Russia closed its airspace to airlines from EU Member States, including Finland.

If prolonged, the closure of Russia’s airspace may have a significant impact on Asian transfer travel and Finavia’s business.