For airport and air navigation business operations, 2004
was the first “normal” year for a long time.
Throughout the world the demand for air travel made up the
losses of the previous two and a half years. In Finland
a 14 % expansion in international air traffic brought us
back to the long-term growth curve of 4 %, having been well
below this for numerous reasons in the previous two years.
Finland’s international air travel rose to a record
number of 8.9 million journeys.
Contributing to the exceptional growth in air travel during
2004 were the general economic trend, the outpouring of
the pent-up demand for holiday travel, a more diverse aviation
market, stiff competition among the airlines and a fall
in air ticket prices. The growth in international air traffic
looks likely to continue, though muted to the 4 to 5 % growth
trend which is now typical of the industry.
