Last week, Finnair published its traffic performance results for December 2019. The airline reported some impressive figures, especially with its annual number of passengers, which saw a 10.3 percent growth.

Finnair Airbus Aircraft
During a tough period for airlines across the globe, Finnair has managed to positive passenger numbers. Photo: Finnair

The total amount of passengers served last year reached 14.7 million. This is an all-time high for the flag carrier of Finland.

This advancement was supported by the firm's two new Airbus A350 aircraft that had entered into service to conduct long-haul operations. There were also specific developments made across different continents that helped with the progress.

Finnair A350 XWB
Finnair received two Airbus A350 XWB aircraft this year. These arrived in February and April respectively. Photo: Finnair

A rising presence in Asia

Finnair was able to double its frequencies in Hong Kong while benefiting from the opening of the new Beijing Daxing airport. The success in this region shouldn't be undervalued as many airlines have reported that they have struggled here for much of 2019.

Qantas shared that the Hong Kong protests had set it back $25 million. Meanwhile, various airlines were affected by the trade disputes between the United States and China.

Additionally, Finnair introduced a new service to Sapporo in December. Subsequently, its year-on-year available seat kilometers (ASK) growth in Asian traffic was 10.7 percent.

Finnair Flight Assistant
There is plenty to smile about for Finnair and its staff. Photo: Finnair

Western developments

Meanwhile, the introduction of a new route to Los Angeles International Airport helped its North Atlantic ASK grow by 29.7 percent for the year. Across Europe, the Nordic operator saw a 12.9 percent growth in the number of passengers.

The increase in capacity in some of the narrowbody planes in its fleet helped also helped the company. It was able to serve 9,264,000 people within the continent between December 2018 and December 2019. Annual domestic traffic also saw reasonable progress with an ASK growth of 1.2 percent.

Finnair Livery
The Finnish carrier said that no financial impact will be felt due to the coronavirus in Q1 of 2020. Photo: Finnair

Strong across the board

Finnair's cargo operations also saw significant growth. Europe saw the most progress with a 53.7 percent increase in tons of goods transported. North Atlantic also saw positive developments with a 30.1 percent increase of tons moved.

Altogether, Finnair will be pleased to look back at the progress made as it has been a successful year for the airline. It is now in a great position to enjoy a strong decade ahead as it starts 2020 on a high.

Finnair is looking to capitalize on its growth with the introduction of new services to Tokyo Haneda. Here, the airline will benefit from the expected rise in traffic as a result of the Tokyo Olympics.

The airline is also putting initiatives in place to ensure it holds a strong presence in the future of aviation. It recently teamed with neighboring SAS to accelerate the development of electric aviation.

Simple Flying reached out to Finnair for comment on its results but did not hear back before publication. We will update the article with any further announcements.

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