Tag Archives: Finnair

Finnair to digitalize coronavirus certificate checks

Finnair made this announcement:

Checking coronavirus related certificates is an important part of international travel today and requires effort from both travelers and airlines. Finnair now introduces a new digital tool with which customers can confirm their coronavirus certificates before their journey. The service is available as of 3 December 2021 for travelers from Finland to Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland as part of the current check-in done online or through the Finnair app. The current list of countries is subject to change due to, for example, additional authority travel requirements. The tool will be expanded to other destination countries at a later stage.

The new tool digitalizes parts of the current paper documentation system for corona related travel document management and checks at airports. With the tool, people traveling to the included destinations can confirm that they have the corona certificates required by the destination authorities. Travelers can do this as part of the check-in online or through the Finnair app. Customers will get a “clear to travel” confirmation together with an online boarding pass. No certificate checks are needed at the airport. However, corona related travel documents may be asked at the destination.

The new tool will be introduced in two phases. On 3 December 2021, customers traveling from Finland to Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland will be able to use it. Early next year, we will add an upload functionality into the tool, which enables customers to upload or scan their corona certificates for verification. With this feature in place, the service will become available for more destinations and customers.

Finnair to start flights to Bergen and Tromsø in Norway in collaboration with Widerøe

Finnair will start flying between Helsinki and Bergen and Tromsø in Norway on December 14, 2021. The routes will be operated by Norwegian regional airline Widerøe, and the flights are sold and marketed by Finnair.

During the winter season until the end of March, flights from Bergen to Helsinki are operated on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. In the summer season from the beginning of April, Finnair will fly to Bergen daily. The flight between Tromsø and Helsinki takes place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The flight schedules will offer customers convenient connections to Finnair’s European network, as well as Finnair’s extensive connections to Asia and the United States.

The flights will be operated with DHC-8-400 aircraft. The onboard service will be based on the Finnair dual-class service concept

Finnair to fly to nearly 100 destinations in summer 2022 – opens new routes to Busan, Tokyo Haneda and Dallas/Fort Worth

Finnair is preparing for the continued expected gradual opening of Asia, and plans to serve nearly 100 destinations in Asia, the US and Europe during the summer season, which begins on 27 March 2022. Finnair will open new long-haul routes to Busan in South Korea, Tokyo Haneda, Dallas in the US, and will also have Sapporo as a summer destination for the first time.

If travel restrictions allow, Finnair will resume service to all the five destinations in Japan it served before the pandemic – Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo – and launch a new service to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Altogether, Finnair will fly up to 40 weekly flights between Helsinki and Japan in summer 2022. Finnair flies daily to Tokyo Narita and Haneda, offering a total of 14 weekly frequencies to the capital of Japan. Finnair also flies daily to Nagoya and Osaka and will introduce double dailies to Osaka in June. Finnair’s Sapporo route will be introduced for the summer season for the first time with two weekly frequencies, and Fukuoka in Southern Japan is served with three weekly flights.

Finnair connects customers to key Asian megacities, flying to Shanghai and daily to Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore and Bangkok. Finnair offers daily flights to Delhi as of June. The new Busan route in South Korea will be launched in March with three weekly frequencies.

In North America, Finnair will fly to Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, and open a route to Dallas as a new destination. Dallas will be added to the network as of 7 February 2022 and will be operated four times a week, with excellent connections to Finnair’s partner American Airlines’ network.

As intercontinental traffic grows, Finnair will also strengthen its European network from Helsinki with smooth connections to more than 70 European cities, including new destinations Zagreb and Larnaca. Finnair offers double daily flights to cities like Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Vienna, Zürich, Gdansk and Milan, and even more daily frequencies to Paris, London, Berlin, Warsaw, Brussels, St Petersburg as well as the Scandinavian and Baltic cities.

The Helsinki Airport is expanding, with the new Terminal 2 entrance, arrivals hall and travel centre with the new parking and public transportation arrangements opening in December 2021, and new security control and check-in area opening in summer 2022. The expansion of the airport further supports the Finnair customer experience with smooth and reliable transfers at Helsinki.

Top Copyright Photo: Finnair Airbus A330-302 OH-LTU (msn 1173) JFK (Fred Freketic). Image: 949673.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Finnair aircraft photo gallery:

Finnair complements Turku and Tampere flight connections with bus connections to lower the CO2 footprint of the route as of summer 2022

Finnair will resume flights to two of its domestic destinations, Turku and Tampere, where flight connections have been on hold since spring 2020 due to the pandemic. Finnair will complement the flight connections to Turku and Tampere with a new type of bus connection, to reduce the CO2 footprint of these routes. The routes are among the shortest in Finnair network, although they have been operated with energy-efficient ATR aircraft, their emissions load per passenger is clearly heavier than on other routes.

The scheduled time for flights to Turku and Tampere is 35 minutes, but the actual flight time is even shorter, about 25 minutes. Such short flights are usually operated only in areas where the terrain is difficult and the flights cross sea areas or mountains, for example. Intermodality is a growing trend, and there is already a wider debate in Europe on how to limit the number of short-haul flights.

According to a study based on Finnair’s customer data, the majority of those departing from Turku or Tampere already used a non-flight connection to arrive at Helsinki Airport in 2019, when the flights were operated with several daily frequencies. A smooth bus connection offers an opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions also for customers who would otherwise travel to Helsinki Airport by car.

Photo: Finnair.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Finnair aircraft photo gallery:

Finnair and Pihlajalinna to offer affordable COVID-19 testing for Finnair’s customers

Finnair starts co-operation with Pihlajalinna and offers its customers easy and fast access to coronavirus testing prior to travel. Finnair’s customers can get a RT-PCR test for 93 euros and a rapid antigen test for 80 euros. The service is available from 3 November 2021 at all Pihlajalinna test locations in Finland.

From today, the test can be booked on the Pihlajalinna website at www.pihlajalinna.fi/finnair. The test result and the English certificate will be received digitally within 24 hours, and the test result will also be transferred to My kanta. The affordable test is available to all customers who have booked a Finnair flight.

The entry requirements of different countries can be checked on the travel restriction map on Finnair’s website or on the websites of the authorities of the countries. Finnair will also continue to offer PCR and rapid antigen testing at its own office near Helsinki Airport.

Finnair moves into SAS’ main hub, launches flights from Stockholm Arlanda to Bangkok, Phuket and Miami

Finnair made this announcement on social media:

Our first direct flights from Stockholm to Bangkok, Phuket and Miami have departed. LAX flights will start in November and JFK in December.

The Phuket flight got a water salute from our partners at Swedavia. We are delighted to offer these new, direct connections to Swedish travelers!

Top Copyright Photo: The A350 prepares to depart ARN bound for MIA. Finnair Airbus A350-941 OH-LWP (msn 392) ARN (Stefan Sjogren). Image: 955677.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Finnair gallery:

Finnair reports a clear improvement especially in short-haul passenger traffic figures, excellent month for cargo

Finnair issued this traffic report:

In September, Finnair carried 298,200 passengers, which was 158.1% more than in September 2020. The number of passengers in September 2021 was 11.9% more than in August 2021 (month-on-month figures are not fully comparable as there is one fewer day in September).

The COVID-19 impact, including the strict travel restrictions imposed by several countries, still affected all passenger traffic figures. It was particularly visible in the North Atlantic and Asian figures.

The overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometers (ASK), increased in September by 151.3% year-on-year and by 12.9% month-on-month. Finnair operated, on average, 144 daily flights (cargo-only included), which was 73.5% more than in September 2020 and 13.4% more than in August 2021. The differences between capacity figures compared to September 2020 are explained by the longer average stage length of flights operated and by the larger gauge of aircraft operated. Finnair’s traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPKs), increased by 220.0% year-on-year and by 8.9% month-on-month. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) increased by 8.7% points to 40.5% year-on-year but decreased by 1.5% points month-on-month.

The ASK increase in Asian traffic was 20.9% year-on-year. In European traffic, the ASKs were up by 179.6%. The ASKs in domestic traffic increased by 25.2%.

RPKs increased in Asian traffic by 26.6%, in European traffic by 339.8% and in domestic traffic by 34.3% year-on-year.

The PLF was 19.4% in Asian traffic and 16.1% in North Atlantic traffic but both were supported by the very strong cargo operations and a high cargo load factor. The PLF was 65.5% in European traffic and 70.7% in domestic traffic.

Passenger numbers increased in Asian traffic by 27.6%, in European traffic by 254.6% and in domestic traffic by 35.2% year-on-year.

In North Atlantic traffic, ASK, RPK and passenger number growth rates year-on-year cannot be calculated as there were no passenger flights in September 2020.

In September, available scheduled cargo tonne kilometers increased by 165.7% year-on-year (increased by 9.6% month-on-month) and revenue scheduled cargo tonne kilometers increased by 136.8% (increased by 14.9% month-on-month), both due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on scheduled flights, especially in North Atlantic traffic, in September 2020. Cargo-related available tonne kilometers increased by 167.8% year-on-year (increased by 37.8% month-on-month) and revenue tonne kilometers increased by 148.8% (increased by 45.1% month-on-month) and both include the cargo-only flights, operated mainly between Europe and Asia, as well as between Europe and North America. Cargo-only tonnes were up by 156.3% year-on-year and by 137.6% month-on-month. Demand for cargo capacity was exceptionally strong in September and, therefore, the total cargo tonnes increased by 139.4% year-on-year and by 45.9% month-on-month (September was a record month during the pandemic). Also, the cargo load factor remained high.

In September, 92.7% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (96.2%).

Traffic statistics for October 2021 will be published on Friday 5 November 2021.

Finnair Traffic Performance September 2021
	Month	% Change	YTD	% Change
Total traffic
Passengers 1,000	298.2	158.1	1,329.3	-58.6
Available seat kilometers mill	1,246.6	151.3	5,913.3	-49.4
Revenue passenger kilometres mill	505.0	220.0	2,110.1	-72.9
Passenger load factor %	40.5	8.7p	35.7	-30.9p
Cargo tonnes total	9,567.2	139.4	63,351.9	21.5
Available tonne kilometers mill	245.1	127.5	1 474.3	-27.4
Revenue tonne kilometers mill	115.7	172.6	656.4	-36.8

Asia
Passengers 1,000 Asia	8.1	27.6	46.4	-90.5
Available seat kilometers mill Asia	314.3	20.9	2,315.1	-57.6
Revenue passenger kilometres mill Asia	60.9	26.6	349.3	-90.7
Passenger load factor % Asia	19.4	0.9p	15.1	-53.4p

Europe
Passengers 1,000 Europe	217.9	254.6	874.9	-53.8
Available seat kilometers mill Europe	530.0	179.6	2,217.7	-52.3
Revenue passenger kilometers mill Europe	347.4	339.8	1,282.6	-56.6
Passenger load factor % Europe	65.5	23.9p	57.8	-5.7p

North Atlantic
Passengers 1,000 North Atlantic	7.6	N/A	31.7	-61.4
Available seat kilometers mill North Atlantic	344.0	N/A	998.6	17.6
Revenue passenger kilometers mill North Atlantic	55.5	N/A	230.9	-64.3
Passenger load factor % North Atlantic	16.1	N/A	23.1	-53.1p

Domestic
Passengers 1,000 Domestic	64.5	35.2	376.2	-49.4
Available seat kilometers mill Domestic	58.3	25.2	381.9	-47.0
Revenue passenger kilometers mill Domestic	41.2	34.3	247.3	-43.9
Passenger load factor % Domestic	70.7	4.8p	64.7	3.5p

Cargo traffic
Europe tons	309.3	5.3	1,805.1	-78.1
North Atlantic tons	2,205.9	N/A	6,256.9	146.1
Asia tons	3,210.4	47.0	23,832.2	-11.4
Domestic tons	31.4	-1.5	247.5	-1.1
Cargo scheduled traffic total tons	5,757.0	129.4	32,141.8	-15.3
Cargo flights tons**	3,810.2	156.3	31,210.1	120.1
Cargo Traffic tons total	9,567.2	139.4	63,351.9	21.5
Available tonne kilometers* mill	91.5	167.8	587.4	5.1
Revenue tonne kilometers mill	70.8	148.8	468.8	36.6
Available sched. cargo ton kms* mill	55.7	165.7	297.2	-30.6
Revenue sched. cargo ton kms mill	41.2	136.8	230.6	-3.9
Cargo load factor* %	77.4	-5.9p	79.8	18.4p
– North-Atlantic cargo load factor* %	69.5	N/A	68.4	2.1p
– Asia cargo load factor* %	85.8	-2.0p	85.6	24.9p
Scheduled traffic cargo load factor* %	73.9	-9.0p	77.6	21.6p

* Based on average operational cargo capacity

** Including purchased traffic

Change %: Change compared to the figures of the respective periods in the previous year (p = points, N/A = not available).
Available seat kilometres, ASK: Total number of seats available multiplied by kilometres flown.
Revenue passenger kilometres, RPK: Number of revenue passengers carried multiplied by kilometres flown.
Passenger load factor: Share of revenue passenger kilometres of available seat kilometres.
Available tonne kilometres, ATK: Number of tonnes of capacity for carriage of passengers, cargo and mail multiplied by kilometres flown.
Revenue tonne kilometres, RTK: Total revenue load consisting of passengers, cargo and mail multiplied by kilometres flown.
Overall load factor: Share of revenue tonne kilometres of available tonne kilometres.

Top Copyright Photo: Finnair Airbus A330-302 OH-LTN (msn 1007) JFK (Fred Freketic). Image: 949671.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Finnair announces the sale and leaseback agreement of four Airbus A350-900 aircraft

Finnair made this announcement:

In conjunction with Finnair’s efforts to emerge from the corona crisis, the company is proceeding with its refinancing plan and has finalized a sale and leaseback arrangement for four of its Airbus A350 aircraft. In the arrangement, Finnair sold these aircraft – delivered between June 2017 and February 2019 – and has leased them back for its own operation. The operating lease period is, on average, 12 years and the counter parties are GE Capital Aviation Services (“GECAS”) and Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (“PIMCO”) as the lessors; GECAS is the lease servicer.

The arrangement will not have a significant impact on Finnair’s operating result for the third quarter of 2021; however, the immediate positive cash effect for Finnair is in excess of 400 million US dollars. Finnair will use the cash to refinance existing debt and retire its undrawn revolving credit facility of 175 million euros.

“This is the biggest single aircraft financing transaction in the history of our company”, says Finnair’s CFO Mika Stirkkinen. “It is a significant part of our refinancing plan, which we have executed diligently during the pandemic, and it helps us to further improve our capital structure.”

Finnair has ordered a total of 19 new A350-900 XWB aircraft from Airbus, of which 16 have been delivered. The remaining three A350 aircraft are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2022, the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.

Top Copyright Photo: Finnair Airbus A350-941 OH-LWB (msn 019) (Oneworld) LHR (Rolf Wallner). Image: 948295.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Finnair is expanding its coronavirus testing service and introduces PCR testing

Finnair expands its coronavirus testing service and will also offer PCR testing at a price of 99 euros. A negative coronavirus test certificate is a prerequisite for entry in several countries, especially if the passenger has not been fully vaccinated. Finnair has previously introduced rapid antigen testing near Helsinki Airport, which costs 65 euros.

Testing is handled by Finnair Health Services and it’s available by appointment from 28 September onwards at Finnair’s headquarters in Vantaa near the airport at Tietotie 9.

Online booking for rapid antigen COVID-19 test and test certificate for asymptomatic travelers at HOTT Testpoint in the Helsinki Airport area (Tietotie 9). You can find the free time slots from the calendar. Everyone entering the test must have an appointment done with their own data.

You can pay for the test with a debit or credit card at HOTT Testpoint.

Please keep in mind that entry restrictions for different countries can change on a short notice. As a traveller, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you fulfill the requirements of your destination and possible transit country. You can find the latest entry restrictions and see where you can travel here.

Finnair and Turkish Airlines launch code shares

Finnair and Turkish Airlines today announced a codeshare agreement that brings more choice to the airline’s customers. Starting September 29, the Finnair AY code will be added to Turkish Airlines route between Helsinki and Istanbul, and from Istanbul to Athens, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Amman, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor, Antalya and Gazipasa. Respectively, the Turkish Airlines TK code will be added to the following routes from Finnair’s Helsinki hub: Kuopio, Vaasa, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Reykjavik, Tallinn, Tartu, Riga, Vilnius, Antalya and Gazipasa.

Turkish Airlines flies to more countries and international destinations than any other airline in the world, and currently operates to more than 300 international passenger and cargo destinations in total, in 127 countries.

Top Copyright Photo: Finnair Airbus A350-941 OH-LWM (msn 264) LHR (SPA). Image: 945935.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Above Copyright Photo: Turkish Airlines Airbus A330-203 TC-JNB (msn 704) (Team Türkiye) ZRH (Andi Hiltl). Image: 954480.

Turkish Airlines aircraft slide show: