Finnair reports strong Asian growth

HELSINKI: Lifted by robust demand on the India sector, Nordic carrier Finnair has reported a 26 per cent growth in Asian traffic this summer.

"The demand for Asian traffic is growing noticeably. We are increasing our capacity to destinations in Asia. Next summer, we will open a new non-stop route to Singapore," said Finnair's president and chief executive Mika Vehvilainen.

The airline officials said passenger load factor for the carrier from Asia was among the highest for any sector. India, where the airline flies six days a week to New Delhi from here, was a major contributor.

Load factor refers to number of actual passengers flown for every 100 seats.

For India, for which the carrier has deployed its latest fleet, with an average age of no more than six months, the passenger load factor for the first three months was 91 per cent, 84 per cent and over 95 per cent respectively.

"One significant factor is that the demand for business class has increased by almost 40 per cent. On Asian flights, the number of passengers in business class increased by over 50 per cent," the airline said in a statement.

"The demand comes, above all, from European and Asian markets outside Finland. The change in passenger structure during the year has improved the unit revenue significantly. The price level is however clearly below 2008."