Finnair has seen its passenger levels double month on month as it continues on the path to recovery. The Finnish flag carrier moved 127,900 passengers last month, representing a 131.5% increase on its 2020 figure when it was dealing with the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aided by an increasing vaccination drive, it seems as though the European aviation industry is well on the way to recovery. Ryanair recently saw its second-best month since the start of the pandemic, although it looks as though the flag carriers such as Finnair are slightly further behind in terms of recovery.

127,900 passengers

During June, Finnair moved 127,900 passengers. This marked a 131.5% increase against June 2020's figure, when the airline was still at the height of the pandemic. However, as Europe recovers from the third wave, it also marks a 54.5% increase month on month. The increase in passenger numbers wasn't spread equally over the airline's market.

Asian traffic doubled year on year, while European traffic increased by 118.4%. The domestic market also more than doubled with an increase of 110.9%. Most interesting is the increase calculated by Finnair for its North Atlantic traffic.

According to the airline, that traffic has increased by 15,154.2%. The airline only operated a single passenger flight in June 2020. With the Los Angeles and Chicago routes reopening this year, the airline was able to increase its available seat kilometers to the market by a staggering 5,243.3%.

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A slow but steady rise

Many airlines have scheduled a return to near normality by the end of this year. This could be explained by the uncertainty in the future, with airlines scheduling routes that may likely end up canceled. According to schedule information from aviation data experts Cirium, as things currently stand, the airline only plans to operate 7,496 flights in December, 69% of its December 2019 schedule.

More passengers next month?

If things continue along the same path, one would expect the airline to have another impressive increase in passengers next month. According to Cirium, the airline has 3,218 flights planned for July, up from 2,305 in June. Alongside its passenger figures announcement today, the airline also revealed that it would be dropping its COVID-19 certification requirements.

Following the launch of the European Union's COVID-19 green pass at the start of the month, fully vaccinated travelers can access Finnland freely from the EU. With this in mind, Finnair will stop requiring passengers to present COVID-19 certificates before boarding flights to Finland from June 12th.

Commenting, Jaakko Schildt, Finnair Chief Operating Officer, said,

“With the new legislation, the requirements for entry are checked on arrival, so our customers do not need to show their certificates to Finnair customer service agent at the check-in, when their destination is Finland..."

What do you make of Finnair's increase in passenger numbers? Let us know what you think and why in the comments below!