A total of 14.9 million passengers used Finavia’s airports in January–September 2014 (14.4 million in 1–9/2013). The passenger volume increased by 3.4% compared with January–September 2013-
International passenger volume increased most intensely in the first two quarters of the year. In the third quarter, the growth has evened out somewhat but continues to be at a good level. The domestic passenger volume has increased somewhat in the third quarter from the previous quarter.
The number of commercial aviation landings decreased by 1.8% in January–September.
Once more increase in transit traffic in the third quarter
A total of 11.1 million passengers used Helsinki Airport in January–September, which was 4.2% more than in the corresponding period of 2013. International transit traffic increased by 4.5% compared with the same period in the previous year. The development of international transit traffic has remained strong, which has increased air traffic demand in Finland.
“International transit traffic has developed extremely strongly for several years. The growth has continued albeit slightly slower when compared with the same period of time in 2013. We have strong trust in Finland's competitiveness in international air traffic and in that increasing numbers of transit passengers will change from one flight to another at the Helsinki Airport in coming years. By developing the Helsinki Airport, we will be able to raise the capacity of the airport while simultaneously consolidating the competitiveness of the airport as the gateway between Europe and Asia,” says Joni Sundelin, director responsible for Finavia's airport network, marketing and sales.
Domestic passenger volume finally on the rise
The domestic passenger volume increased by 2.9% in January–September compared to the same period of time in 2013. There were in all 3.7 million domestic passengers.
The positive development in domestic traffic was mainly due to the brisk 13.8% increase on the Helsinki–Oulu route. At the provincial airports, the passenger volume, including domestic and international traffic, has increased well from the previous year, but the overall passenger volume has
increased by 0.1%.
In January–September, the passenger volume decreased most drastically in Tampere (-11.5%), Turku (-9.1%) and Ivalo (-9.5%). The passenger volume at Turku Airport was affected by the runway renovation in July during which time there was no traffic at all. The increase in passenger volume was the greatest in Jyväskylä (10.7%), Oulu (12.4%) and Joensuu (7.2%).
During the third quarter, domestic traffic passenger volume has increased especially in Kemi-Tornio (12.9%) and Jyväskylä (27.2%) due to additional flights.
“Domestic passenger volume is developing positively. All through the year, the passenger volume on domestic routes has increased from the previous year. This is explained especially by the recovery of the Helsinki–Oulu route after the past temporary decline,” says Sundelin.
International air traffic continues to increase
International passenger volume at all Finavia’s airports (including scheduled and chartered services) increased by 3.6% in January–September, to 11.1 million. The increase was due to the good beginning of the year. In the third quarter, passenger volumes increased by 2.1%.
Of the important Asian destinations, travel to South Korea (passenger volume +15.1%), Japan (+12.8%) and China (+10.0) continued to grow in January–September. Of the important European destinations, the growth was strongest in travel to the Czech Republic (+17.8%) and Italy (+12.7%). Passenger volume to Middle East is also on the rise.
Finavia published monthly traffic statistics on its website-
In this press release, all percentages of change describe the development in in January–September 2014 compared with the corresponding period in 2013. Correspondingly, the developments in the third quarter of 2014 have been compared with the third quarter of 2013.
