Finnair Cargo moved 12,275 tonnes of freight in September, a 4.5% increase over the same month of 2025 and the strongest monthly headline of a year that has lifted the Helsinki-headquartered carrier's volume to 109,295 tonnes through the first nine months.

The September gain cut across every market the airline serves, Finnair Cargo said, with North Atlantic lanes producing the standout result: traffic there rose 55.8% year on year. Asia, the carrier's largest regional market, grew 6% to 7,866 tonnes, accounting for roughly 64% of the month's total cargo.

Network-wide revenue cargo tonne kilometres reached 75.4 million in September, up 5.4% year on year. For the January-to-September period, RFTKs totalled 666 million, a 6.4% rise, while aggregate tonnage climbed 6.8%.

Where is the growth concentrated?

The North Atlantic surge — at 55.8% — did most of the directional heavy lifting on the September headline, though Finnair Cargo did not disclose absolute tonnage figures by region beyond Asia. Asia remains the single largest contributor by weight, but its growth rate sits at one-tenth of the transatlantic pace. That divergence helps explain why the YTD RFTK gain (6.4%) is roughly tracking the YTD tonnage gain (6.8%) rather than running ahead of it: average sector distance is moving modestly higher, but most of the new volume is staying within the existing widebody operating envelope rather than triggering new frequencies.

Finnair Cargo has not published September load-factor or unit-revenue figures in the monthly update, leaving yield movement outside the picture.

What changed in commercial distribution?

In June, 4RCargo was appointed as Finnair Cargo's general sales agent (GSA) in the Baltics. The partnership, announced at the TIACA Executive Summit in Warsaw, hands representation across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to a specialist cargo GSA. The arrangement consolidates the Baltic book with a single agent. Finnair Cargo did not disclose the commercial terms or the predecessor GSA in the region.

Why does the RTK-tonnage gap matter?

A 6.8% rise in YTD tonnage against a 6.4% rise in YTD RFTKs points to a marginal lengthening of average sector distance. For unit revenue, which the carrier does not break out in the monthly traffic release, the tonnage gain of roughly 6,950 tonnes over nine months relative to 2025 suggests top-line pressure has eased. Whether that translates into margin recovery depends on what mix of general cargo, mail and special-handled freight is travelling, and at what contracted rate — neither of which appears in the September note.

What should be watched in the next release?

The Baltic GSA handover positions 4RCargo to capture any fourth-quarter seasonal lift in cargo flows through Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius — three airports that funnel through Helsinki for onward widebody distribution. The October traffic release, due in early November, will indicate whether the North Atlantic 55.8% rate holds or reverts as the year-on-year comparison base firms up.