Finnair is one of around 40 scheduled airlines flying between Europe and the US. Between March 2025 and February 2026, the country’s Department of Transportation (DOT) shows that Finnair carried 479,500 round-trip passengers. Traffic grew by 15% compared to the prior 12 months, which was driven by increased frequencies on various existing routes.

In the year to February this year, the DOT shows that the oneworld member filled just 73.1% of seats to/from the US. The airline’s own traffic reports show that was below its overall networkwide average. US capacity rose by 25%, far outstripping the 15% increase in traffic. As such, the load factor fell (it is technically the seat factor). It is always about how multiple things are balanced.

This Was Finnair’s Worst-Performing US Route By Load Factor

Credit: Shutterstock

With only 66.8% of available seats filled by revenue-generating passengers, the long link from Helsinki Airport (HEL) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) was Finnair’s worst-performing route in this sense. Loads are, of course, just one performance measure, and it is about how they were achieved. Nonetheless, 66.8% was clearly poor. It was SEA’s lowest European result.

Finnair first flew to SEA in the 1980s. The long route, which covers 4,156 nautical miles (7,697 km) each way, returned amid the pandemic in 2022. In the 12 months to February 2026, 30,600 passengers were carried, which was a record amount. Traffic rose by three-quarters compared to the prior 12 months. That was a considerable increase, albeit from a small base.

The growth was because of a 117% (!) increase in capacity, which mainly reflected the route’s frequency increasing from three weekly services on the Airbus A350-900 to five weekly departures on the A330-300. Despite Finnair’s partnership with Alaska Airlines, the carrier struggled to fill the additional seats at specific fares. As such, the load fell from 84.7% (when it ranked first among Finnair’s US links) to just 66.8% in very little time. Not surprisingly, Cirium Diio data shows that the airline has reduced capacity for 2026, with three to four weekly flights available.

Finnair’s 2nd To 4th-Lowest Loads

Credit: Flickr

With only 70.6% of seats filled, the DOT shows that HEL to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) was second-to-last in this sense (69,500 round-trip passengers). It was LAX’s lowest result among its many European services, followed by Aer Lingus from Dublin. There’s a very familiar theme. Finnair’s LAX traffic grew by 17% year-over-year, but capacity rose by 29%. This out-of-balance situation meant the load factor fell by around seven percentage points.

Given the geographic position of HEL, it is worth examining where LAX passengers went. Booking data indicates that LAX-HEL-Stockholm was the leading segment, followed by Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), Milan, Oslo, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Berlin, Gothenburg, Tallinn, and Hamburg. Detouring to avoid Ukrainian and Russian airspace due to the war means that flying LAX-HEL-DEL adds around a fifth more distance to what a theoretical nonstop LAX-DEL service would cover.

In third place was the oneworld link from HEL to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW; 72.6%; 154,700 passengers), followed by New York JFK (74.9%; 143,200) passengers). HEL-DFW had more passengers than any of Finnair’s other US routes. The airline has flown to Texas in partnership with American Airlines since 2022. Booking data for March 2025 to February 2026 estimates that 58% of Finnair’s DFW passengers also flew American via the Texas hub.

Finnair’s 5th And 6th-Lowest Results

Credit: Photo: Dzerkach Viktar | Shutterstock

In fourth place with 76.5% was HEL-Chicago O’Hare (58,300 round-trip passengers), followed by Miami International Airport (MIA) with 77.8% (23,200 passengers). Despite both routes having above-average results, the loads fell year-over-year from additional capacity outstripping the generated traffic.

With only 23,200 passengers, MIA was Finnair’s least-trafficked US market. It has flown there for decades, particularly as a warm place for Northern Europeans to visit during the freezing winter. Nowadays, flights usually only operate between December and March. DOT data shows that traffic has fallen from a record 68,300 passengers in 2016, when MIA was served on a year-round basis.