REPORT BY THE BOARD FOR 2005
The Civil Aviation Administration is a commercial enterprise as defined in the Act concerning state owned commercial enterprises (1185/2002). However, under the transition conditions set out in § 20 of the above mentioned Act the previous commercial enterprise Act (627/1987) shall apply to the Civil Aviation Administration until 31st December, 2005.
The business operations and duties of the Civil Aviation Administration are set out in § 2 of the Civil Aviation Administration Act.
The CAA and its subsidiaries Airpro Oy, Lentoasemakiinteistöt Oyj, Koyj Lentäjäntie 1, Koyj Lentäjäntie 3, Koy Turun Lentorahti and IP-Kiinteistöt Oy make up a business concern as defined in § 3 of the commercial enterprises Act.
The year 2005 was the Civil Aviation Administration’s 15th as a state owned commercial enterprise.
TRENDS IN THE CAA’S BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN 2005
Air Traffic Trends
The year 2005 was quite positive for European air traffic. According to Eurocontrol figures, by the end of November, Europe had seen a 4 % increase in flight operations over the corresponding period of the previous year.¹ Overflights in European air space grew the most (+11 %) and domestic operations the least (+3 %). Passenger figures also increased over those of 2004. According to figures from the international airports organisation, ACI Europe, passenger volumes at Europe’s leading airports² grew by 5 % for January–November.
Air traffic developed positively in Finland too during 2005. The trend followed the same direction as the European average, though was slightly more muted overall. Even so, 2005 broke passenger records. For the first time, more than 15 million passengers passed through Civil Aviation Administration airports. Helsinki- Vantaa broke its 11 million passenger barrier, whilst Oulu’s 800 000 and Kuopio’s 300 000 passenger milestones were also passed.
A characteristic feature of air traffic trends in Finland was a clear disparity that emerged during 2005. There was a better than expected improvement in passenger numbers for international traffic, which rose by more than the European average, 7.0 %. Offsetting this, domestic travel was slightly weaker, especially at the beginning of the year, when passenger numbers declined by 4–5 %. However, domestic traffic did rally towards the end of the year, although in total the number of domestic passengers remained 2 % lower than in 2004. The trend in domestic travel was affected by the low fares that prevailed during 2004, which thereby gave rise to relatively high passenger figures for that year.
Measured by the number of commercial aviation landings, air traffic capacity remained at the level of 2004. The number of overflights, on the other hand, rose by 5 %. The so-called Transpolar route connecting Western Europe with the Far East is important for Finland, and it is indeed positive that overflights using this route increased by 9 % over 2004. In fact overflights on this route during September–October increased by as much as 25 % over the previous year.
1 Eurocontrol, Statfor: DAIO Report, 2005 v 2004.
2 ACI statistics cover 47 airports.