Better year for Finavia but Helsinki revenues not enough to fund regional airports

Finnish airport operator, Finavia, today confirmed that its revenues grew substantially in 2022 and the operating margin turned positive.

Nevertheless, the result for the financial year was negative due to the low passenger volumes at the regional airports and the low level of transfer travel at Helsinki Airport.

The traffic decline at Helsinki Airport meant that the Finland’s capital city gateway didn’t make enough revenue to cross-fund the operations of the country’s regional airports.

Commenting on the Finavia Group’s 2022 performance, FCEO, Kimmo Mäki, said: “Finavia Group’s profitability improved in 2022 as business volumes grew, but the operating result was negative at €52.3 million.

“Our revenues grew compared to 2021, and the operating margin turned positive. The growth was attributable to the positive development of air traffic revenues and other revenues, driven by the increased volumes of air traffic.

“A total of 15.4 million passengers travelled through Finavia’s airports in 2022. Air traffic volumes to European and North American destinations improved after the pandemic. However, the volumes of Helsinki Airport’s transfer travel between Europe and Asia remained low due to the COVID-19 restrictions in effect in China and the closure of Russian airspace to EU countries.

“We continued the Helsinki Airport development programme. The airport transitioned to a single-terminal operating model and we also introduced state-of-the-art security control technology. The development programme will be completed in 2023.  We also invested in renovating the runway at Savonlinna Airport.

“In autumn 2022, we published our strategic goals adapted to the new situation. They guide our operations effective from the beginning of 2023. Our strategic goals are as follows: dedicated and motivated personnel, business growth and financially sustainable operations.”

Looking to the future, Mäki noted: “The company expects its revenues for 2023 to be higher than in 2022. This expectation is based on the current view of the development of air traffic. The operating profit before extraordinary items is expected to be clearly higher than in 2022 but still unprofitable.

“Due to the war started by Russia and the related airspace closure, it is likely to take years for traffic to return to the levels seen before the COVID-19 crisis.

“The rapid rise in prices has an impact on the finances of consumers and businesses, as well as costs in the aviation industry. This may slow down the development of air traffic in the long term.”