Finnish airports see higher passengers in Sep but below pre-pandemic level

A total over 1.5 million passengers flew through Finnish airports in September 2023, according to Statistics Finland.

The number of passengers was 2 per cent higher than in the previous year, but still a third lower than in September 2019.

The number of passengers on domestic flights decreased by 17 per cent, while the number of passengers on international flights increased by 7 per cent compared to September 2022.

In September, Helsinki Airport accounted 88 per cent of all passengers at domestic airports.

The share of international flights remained high.

The volume of freight increased from the previous month.

In September, a total of 1.3 million passengers flew through Helsinki Airport and altogether 180,000 passengers flew through other domestic airports.

Compared to September 2022, the total number of passengers was 3 per cent higher at Helsinki Airport and 5 per cent lower at other domestic airports.

Eighty-five per cent of the air passengers travelled on international flights and 15 per cent on domestic flights.

The number of passengers on domestic flights increased by 12 per cent from August and by 24 per cent from July. The share of passengers on international flights was 91 per cent at Helsinki Airport and 35 per cent in total at other domestic airports.

The number of passengers was still behind the level prior to the corona pandemic. The number of passengers at Helsinki Airport was 31 per cent lower and the combined number of passengers at other domestic airports 47 per cent lower than in September 2019. The year 2019 is used in the statistics as the comparison year to describe the number of air passengers before the pandemic.

Air freight and mail transport totaled 14,919 tonnes in September 2023. In all, 97 per cent of the tonnes were transported through Helsinki Airport and 99 per cent in traffic between Finland and foreign countries.

Altogether 6,702 tonnes (45 %) of the transported volume of goods were incoming and 8,217 tonnes (55 %) were outgoing.