- Total passenger volume grew by 3.4% compared to the corresponding period in 2015
- Revenues increased by 7.7% due to positive traffic development, development of commercial services and Airpro’s growth
- Development and investment programmes continued at Helsinki Airport and network airports
- Investments totalled EUR 133.5 million (Q1-Q3/2015: 94.9)
- EBITDA excluding non-recurring items increased to EUR 87.8 million (Q1-Q3/2015: 80.9)
- Operating result excluding non-recurring items decreased to EUR 44.5 million (Q1-Q3/2015: 45.3)
- Operating cash flow increased to EUR 70.5 million (Q1-Q3/2015: 57.3)
The Group’s key indicators
CEO Kari Savolainen:
”The passenger development at Finavia’s airports has continued on a positive track throughout the year. During the third quarter, the passenger volume developed as expected, with continued growth in international travel in particular. The passenger development also reflects Finland’s increased attractiveness as a travel destination, as more and more passengers traveling from Asia stop by Finland. We are now investing strongly in further improving the service experience of Chinese passengers because the number of Chinese visitors to Helsinki Airport is continuously growing.
Our revenue grew especially due to the positive passenger development, but our result decreased compared to the reference period. The weakened result is a consequence of increased write-downs, which will continue to increase as our investment programme proceeds.
The major investment programme of Helsinki Airport is proceeding as planned and in schedule. The goal of the development work is to increase Helsinki Airport’s importance and attractiveness as a hub in the traffic between Europe and Asia. However, the terminal itself will not bring additional traffic – we are continuously working to open new connections. For example, a new route was introduced from Finland to Doha, enabling faster and more versatile connections to not only the Middle East but to India, Africa and Australia as well. The new route also supports travel sales to Finland in these areas.
In Finland, the growth of air traffic rests on the shoulders of Northern Finland. Lapland has succeeded in developing its travel product to such a high level that demand has begun to climb and direct international routes from Europe are profitable. Direct flights from Germany and the UK to Kittilä and Rovaniemi will be initiated in the winter season. Air traffic has developed in a positive in way in Oulu as well, and Oulu airport will reach the milestone of one million passengers this year.
We predict positive development in traffic at Finavia’s airports during the remainder of the year and foresee growth in total passenger volume compared to the previous year. Potential security threats in popular travel destinations may, however, affect traffic development. The revenue from commercial services is expected to increase as new digital services are introduced.
We expect our revenue in 2016 to be clearly higher than last year, mainly due to positive development of passenger volume. Our operating profit level, excluding non-recurring items, is impacted by write-downs, which have increased due to investments. The operating profit excluding non-recurring items is therefore expected to remain somewhat below last year’s level despite the good EBITDA.”
