13.01.2010

Passenger numbers in 2009 contracted, especially in domestic air traffic

The economic situation clearly reduced air travel in both domestic and international traffic. The number of air passengers dropped by 7.8% in 2009 in Finland. Last year, Helsinki Airport was the leading airport in Northern Europe for long haul traffic between Europe and Asia.

A total of 16,177,200 passengers passed through Finavia's airports, 30% of which were domestic passengers. Domestic passengers totalled 4,758,900 (-12.2%) and international traffic passengers 11,418,300 (-5.9%).

Domestic traffic continued the contraction that started in 2008, especially on business-oriented routes, such as to Oulu, where traffic dropped by 14.7%.

Domestic passenger numbers for Lapland remained the same in December, but dropped by 8.8% last year compared with the previous year. Overall traffic to Lapland dropped by 12.8% in 2009. The international economic situation was reflected in international traffic to Lapland, where the number of international passengers clearly decreased.

In domestic traffic, the market shares of the leading airlines were: Finnair (57%), Finncomm Airlines (23%), Blue1 (17%), and others (2%).

The most important destination countries in international traffic were: Germany, 1,465,300 passengers (-1.1%); Sweden, 1,105,600 passengers (-12.2%); and Great Britain, 936,200 passengers (-1.9%). Passenger numbers increased significantly to Portugal (+20%) and Latvia (+19%) as a result of a considerable increase in the supply of flights.

International traffic at Helsinki Airport contracted less than in other Nordic countries

A total of 12,589,400 passengers (-6.3%) passed through Helsinki Airport. The number of international traffic passengers was 10,217,000 (-4.9%) and the figure for domestic traffic was 2,372,500 (-12.1%). Over two million (-5%) international transit passengers passed through the airport. Transit travel makes up around 20% of international passenger numbers at Helsinki Airport.

Helsinki Airport is the leading transit airport in Northern Europe for travel between Europe and Asia. A total of 1,334,200 passengers (-9.2%) passed through Helsinki Airport in Asian traffic.

The most important destination countries in Asia were: Thailand (348,900 passengers), Japan (321,500 passengers) and China 287,100 passengers. Passenger numbers to Hong Kong increased (+8%). Traffic to India dropped by 39% as a result of the closure of the Mumbai route and to China by 20% due to the closure of the Guangzhou route. The number of passengers flying to the U.S. increased by 10% as the number of flights increased.

Archive