The coronavirus pandemic continues to manifest itself as a substantial decrease in traffic volumes in Finland in the first quarter of 2021. Volumes are lower than in the corresponding period in the previous year in air, rail and road traffic.
As expected, the pandemic has hit air traffic the hardest, and no recovery is as yet in sight. The number of landings at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport from January to March was 73% less than in the same period in 2020. The number of overflights in Finnish airspace also remains low.
“The travel restrictions have had a major impact on the volume of air traffic in Finland. However, there is some growth already visible on certain routes in European airspace. Because air traffic is so hugely important for Finland’s accessibility and national economy, it is important that we are able to restore Finland’s air traffic at least at the same rate as in other European countries as the vaccine coverage improves,” says Raine Luojus, CEO of Fintraffic Air Navigation Services.
In rail traffic, the pandemic has hit long-distance trains in particular, the number of trains running in Q1 2021 being nearly 20% lower than in Q1 2020. The decrease in commuter rail traffic, by comparison, was considerably smaller at about 6%. The figures for goods traffic have remained more or less the same as in the previous year, if we disregard the effects of the labour market disruption in the comparison period in 2020.
On the roads, the first quarter of the year was considerably quieter than in the previous year: there were nearly 19% fewer cars on the main roads in January, and 16% fewer in February, than in 2020. In March, on the other hand, the volume of road traffic began to exceed the previous year’s figures, due to the heavy restrictions on movement imposed in March 2020. However, the volume of road traffic in March was still considerably lower than in a normal year.
“Finns have been quite conscientious in complying with the movement restrictions imposed because of the pandemic. At the same time, the huge decline in passenger numbers in public transport spelled financial trouble for service providers in the sector. Because 90% of Finland’s transport emissions come from road traffic, it is important to make public transport effective and attractive so that the drop in the usage of public transport because of the pandemic will not become permanent. The digitalisation of traffic offers excellent potential for various operators to collaborate in offering new services combining various forms of mobility, allowing people and goods to travel more smoothly and with fewer emissions from one place to another,” says Fintraffic CEO Pertti Korhonen.
