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Published: 17 March 2021

Number of passengers at Finnish airports plummeted in 2020

In 2020, altogether 6.5 million passengers flew through Finnish airports, which was only one-quarter of the number of passengers in 2019. The number of passengers in international air transport decreased by 78 per cent and that in domestic air transport by 66 per cent. There were 5.1 million passengers at Helsinki Airport and a total of 1.4 million passengers at other domestic airports. Helsinki Airport accounted for 79 per cent of all passengers at domestic airports.

In January to February, the number of passengers was still on level with the previous year, but in mid-March the global COVID-19 pandemic temporarily stopped air traffic almost completely. During the summer, the number of passengers in air traffic recovered slightly but the end of the year was again declining. In all, 76 per cent of the passengers in air transport in 2020 flew in January to March. In April to December, the decrease in the number of passengers was 92 per cent compared with 2019.

Passengers of international and domestic flights year 2019 and 2020

Compared with the previous year, the number of passengers in air transport dropped by over 80 per cent at the airports of Savonlinna, Jyväskylä, Tampere-Pirkkala, Kokkola-Pietarsaari, Joensuu, Enontekiö, Vaasa and Kajaani. In relative terms, the number of passengers decreased least at the airports of Kuusamo (-38%) and Kittilä (-43%).

In 2020, altogether 69 per cent of the passengers were from international flights and 31 per cent from domestic flights. Of the passengers at Helsinki Airport, 80 per cent were from international flights. At Turku airport, the share of passengers in international traffic was 78 per cent and at Tampere-Pirkkala airport 53 per cent. A total of 20 per cent of the passengers at the other domestic airports came from international flights. Ninety-seven per cent of the passengers at Helsinki Airport flew on scheduled flights and three per cent on chartered flights. At the other domestic airports, 12 per cent of the passengers flew on chartered flights.

In 2020, air freight and mail transport decreased by one-third from the previous year. Freight and mail transports amounted to 147,210 tonnes in total, and 97 per cent of the tonnes were transported through Helsinki Airport. Ninety-nine per cent of the freight tonnes were transported between Finland and foreign countries. Altogether 79,082 tonnes of the transported volume of goods were outgoing and 68,129 tonnes were incoming.

Source: Transport and tourism, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Jukka Tuominen 029 551 3635, jukka.tuominen@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Updated 17.3.2021