TRENDS IN THE CAA BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN 2004
Revival In Air Traffic Demand
Air traffic revived from the its slump of 2001–2003 and
showed clear growth in 2004. A total of 14.6 million passengers
passed through CAA airports during 2004, which was 10.8 % more
than in 2003. The number of passengers on domestic flights rose
by 6 % and on international flights by 14.1 %. The biggest growth
was in traffic to Asia and the related and expanding transit
traffic via Finland.
Domestic air travel increased from the beginning of the year
right through to September but then turned downwards during
October-December. International traffic, however, developed
positively throughout the year. International Christmas traffic
to Lapland again reached a new record, with the number of
international Christmas travellers rising by 17 %. More than
100,000 overseas tourists visited Lapland on charter flights
during the year. Tourists also come to Lapland on scheduled
flights.
The growth percentages for air travel were exceptionally
good both because of an increase in the market and because
of the weak comparative figures for the previous year. Air
travel declined significantly in 2003 because of the SARS
epidemic, which caused a temporary collapse in Asian traffic.
The stiff competition among the airlines was evident in falling
air ticket prices until the autumn, when they began to rise
again.
Turmoil continued in the air traffic market in 2004, with
three new foreign airlines entering the Finnish market and
four companies ceasing operations as a result of bankruptcy.
The low-cost air travel available at Tampere grew to a new
record and two new routes were opened to the airport during
the year.
Commercial aviation capacity, which is measured by the number
of landings, grew by 5.1 % during 2004. Domestic landings
increased by only 0.6 % because of the weak trend at the end
of the year. However, landings by international traffic rose
by 10.1 %.
Almost 245,000 flights were flown in Finnish airspace during
2004, which was 10.1 % more than during 2003. Overflights
through Finnish airspace also increased by 10.2 % in 2004.
|
