Tag Archives: HEL

Norwegian to expand operations in Finland

Norwegian Air Shuttle has made this announcement:

Norwegian continues to grow and expand the number of flights to a number of popular European summer destinations from Helsinki-Vantaa. The capacity increase means that Finnish travelers get even more choices next summer as the number of seats increased by 15 percent.

In 2018 Norwegian will add 25 new aircraft into the fleet, which means more departures to popular summer destinations. Next spring and summer, starting March 25, 2018, Norwegian will increase the number of departures from Helsinki to a number of attractive destinations in Greece, Italy, Croatia, Kosovo and Bulgaria.

Norwegian will add more departures from Helsinki-Vantaa to Pristina, Athens, Crete, Venice, Burgas, Varna, Pula and Dubrovnik. These popular destinations will have a capacity increase of 15 percent, which means nearly 300,000 additional seats.

The capacity increase means that the routes from Helsinki to Pristina, Athens, Crete and Varna will be increased to two flights a week and the flights to Venice, Burgas and Pula will expand up to three flights a week during the summer of 2018. The flights to Dubrovnik will expand up to four flights a week.

Copyright Photo: Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) Boeing 737-8JP WL LN-DYH (msn 40865) (Soren Kiergaard) HEL (Ton Jochems). Image: 911080.

Finnair acquires the remaining 60% of Nordic Regional Airlines AB (Norra)

Finnair has acquired 60% of Nordic Regional Airlines AB (Norra) from Staffpoint Holding Oy (StaffPoint) and Kilco Oy (Kilco). Finnair currently owns 40% of the company, and following the transaction Norra will transfer full ownership to Finnair on an interim basis. The transaction has no impact on Norra’s operations or personnel.

Norra operates Finnair’s domestic and European routes as purchase traffic with a total of 24 ATR and Embraer aircraft. Following the changes in StaffPoint’s ownership base disclosed on 5 October 2017, StaffPoint and Kilco have decided to withdraw from the ownership of Norra. Finnair aims to find a new majority owner for Norra.

”Recent years have shown that the partnership model can be successful in domestic and regional purchase traffic. Our aim is to find a new, industrial partner to develop Norra’s business further with us,” says Finnair COO Jaakko Schildt.

The transaction requires approval by the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority.

Copyright Photo: Norra – Nordic Regional Airlines ATR 72-212A (ATR 72-500) OH-ATK (msn 848) HEL (Ton Jochems). Image: 937419.

Finnair extends the Miami route to the summer season, adds frequencies to Chicago for summer 2016

Finnair (Helsinki) has announced, starting in April 2016, it will extend its Miami service to be year-round, and will operate to Miami with three weekly frequencies in summer 2016.

“The Miami route has proven to be popular both for our Northern European customers as well as for Miami based customers, for whom we offer excellent connections to Scandinavia via Helsinki. The new schedule will also enable excellent connections from Miami to our Asian destinations. Our oneworld partner, American Airlines, has a large hub in Miami, which enables good connections further to the Caribbean, Central and South America.”

Finnair also adds frequencies to its Chicago service, increasing the weekly flights from three in summer 2015 to five in summer 2016. This will further improve connectivity beyond Chicago to American Airlines’ extensive network in the Americas. This five-weekly service connects well also to Finnair’s Asian network beyond Helsinki.

Both destinations are served with Finnair Airbus A330 aircraft. The flights to Miami International Airport are operated on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays, and the flights to Chicago O’Hare are operated from Helsinki on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Finnair’s Chicago and Miami services are included in the joint business on transatlantic traffic with fellow oneworld alliance partners British Airways, Iberia, American Airlines and American’s merger partner US Airways. Miami and Chicago are hubs for American, which allows Finnair’s customers quick codeshare connections to destinations throughout the United States, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Miami and Chicago timetables connect well with passengers transferring to and from Finnair destinations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the Baltics, including Stockholm, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, St Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw as well as with Finnair’s Asian destinations, including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, Chongqing, Xi’an, Beijing, Shanghai, Delhi and Bangkok.

In addition to Miami and Chicago, Finnair operates daily to New York JFK and, together with its joint business partners, offers over 120 daily departures over the Atlantic.

Copyright Photo: OSDU/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-302 OH-LTO (msn 1013) in the special Unikko (poppy) color scheme departs from the Helsinki (HEL) hub.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

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Finnair is facing a possible strike next week (now withdrawn)

Finnair (Helsinki) is facing a possible strike by the Finnish Aviation Union for next week that will possibly affect Finnair and other airlines operating to Finland. The airline has issued this statement:

The Finnish Aviation Union has issued a strike warning for May 19-20, 2015, and the possible strike would impact also Finnair and its subcontractors. The strike is in connection to a dispute related to a collective labor agreement applied to a Finnish ground handling company. Finnair is not a party to the dispute in any way. The strike would also impact other airlines operating to and from Finland.

Even though the dispute is not related to Finnair, the strike would, if implemented, have significant impacts on Finnair flights, as it would bring Finnair’s baggage and ground handling services to a complete halt for several hours during peak travel hours on May 19-20. The strike would thus disrupt the travel plans of thousands of Finnair customers. Finnair has already offered customers the possibility to change their travel dates to avoid traveling on the possible strike days.

If the strike threat is not withdrawn, Finnair is forced to cancel many of its flights on May 19-20, to avoid a situation where thousands of customers would be stranded at Helsinki Airport when their connecting flights cannot be operated. Some cancellations will also have to be made on May 18 and May 21.

First cancellations will be made for certain flights for Monday, May 18, and Finnair will inform customers of these cancellations on Sunday, May 17.

Update May 16: From Finnair:

Finnish Aviation Union has withdrawn the threat of a support strike, which would have had significant impacts on Finnair and its subcontractors among others, and the parties to the dispute have reached an agreement.

Copyright Photo below: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 190-100LR OH-LKI (msn 19000117) taxies to the gate at the Helsinki hub.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Flybe Finland to become Nordic Regional Airlines

Flybe Finland (Helsinki) will become Nordic Regional Airlines in May reflecting the recent change in ownership. The name change still requires approval by the Trade Register, which is expected to take place in early May.

According to the airline’s CEO Maunu Visuri, “The new name reflects our company’s core business, i.e. the regional flying. Our goal is to continue to be a high-quality and skilled Nordic airline to offer excellent service to their customers.”

A new look will be unveiled in the early summer and the transformation will be implemented in stages during 2015.

Flybe Finland aircraft slide show:

All images by Flybe Finland.

Finnair to open a new route to Gdansk, Poland

Finnair (Helsinki) on May 11 will open a new daily service to Gdansk, Poland.

The service will be sold with Finnair’s flight number, and it will be operated by Flybe Finland (Helsinki) with ATR 72 aircraft.

In addition to Gdansk, in Poland, Finnair flies daily to Warsaw year-round and to Krakow from April 2 until October 22, 2015.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. ATR 72-212A (ATR 72-500) OH-ATG (msn 757) sits on the Helsinki (HEL) ramp.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Flybe Finland to fly under the Finnair code starting on May 1

Finnair (Helsinki) as we previously reported, is now a part owner of Flybe Finland. The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority approved the transaction in which Flybe UK Ltd’s 60% ownership of Flybe Nordic venture was transferred to StaffPoint Holding Ltd and G.W. Sohlberg Ltd (GWS) . The letter of intent on this transaction was announced on January 7, 2015. StaffPoint’s ownership in the joint venture is now 45%, GWS’s 15% and Finnair’s 40%.

Flybe Nordic owns fully the Finnish subsidiary Flybe Finland, which is in charge of Finnair’s regional airline operations. Flybe Finland currently operates to a number of domestic and European destinations from Helsinki on behalf of Finnair on a contract-flying basis. In addition, Flybe Finland operates to five domestic destinations as well as Tartu, Estonia and Norrköping, Sweden at its own commercial risk.

As a result, Finnair now has issued this statement:

Starting May 1 all routes operated by Flybe Finland (Helsinki) at their own commercial risk will become a part of Finnair’s contract flying arrangements, and the flights will carry a Finnair (AY) flight designator instead of Flybe’s (BE) code. The routes are between Helsinki and the following destinations:

Jyväskylä
Kajaani
Kemi-Tornio
Kokkola-Pietarsaari
Mariehamn
Norrköping
Tartu
Visby

Finnair sells tickets to these routes starting on March 10, 2015. Tickets can also be purchased from Flybe Finland until April 30, 2015.

The change to Finnair’s flight numbers may cause some changes to the schedules of Flybe Finland flights that have already been booked and which depart on 1 May 1, 2015 and onward.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Flybe Finland’s ATR 72-212A (ATR 72-500) OH-ATG (msn 757) sits on the ramp at the Helsinki (HEL) base.

The sale of Flybe Nordic’s 60% share formerly held by Flybe is approved

Finnair (Helsinki) has announced the sale of Flybe’s (Exeter) 60% share in Flybe Nordic has been approved. The airline issued this statement:

The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority has approved the transaction in which Flybe UK Ltd’s 60% ownership of Flybe Nordic venture will be transferred to StaffPoint Holding Ltd and G.W. Sohlberg Ltd (GWS) . The letter of intent on this transaction was announced on January 7, 2015. Upon completion of the sale, StaffPoint’s ownership in the joint venture will be 45%, GWS’s 15% and Finnair’s 40%. The transaction is expected to be closed in early February 2015.

Will the Flybe Finland brand now be changed to a new name? Flybe Finland was formerly FinnComm Airlines.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Flybe Finland’s ATR 72-212A (ATR 72-500) OH-ATG (msn 757) sits on the ramp at the Helsinki (HEL) base.

Video: A time lapse full flight window view of a flight from Edinburgh to Birmingham, onboard Flybe Embraer ERJ 175 G-FBJE, operating flight BE 852 on October 31, 2014.

Finnair to get out of the dedicated freighter business

Finnair (Helsinki) is getting out of the dedicated freighter business by the end of this month according to ch-aviation. The Finnish carrier will depend on belly cargo in the future using its own passenger aircraft. Currently its dedicated freighter operation is provided by partial owned (40%) Nordic Global Airlines (NGA) which operates four McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighters mainly for Finnair. It is unclear if NGA will continue to operate its ACMI operations after Finnair stops all dedicated freighter operations.

Nordic Global describes its operations:

Nordic Global Airlines Ltd (NGA) is a Finnish all cargo carrier based in Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Finland. NGA focuses on ACMI and Cargo Charters worldwide and operates under EASA AOC.

NGA has a highly dedicated and experienced team to manage the operations. As a young and dynamic company we are able to deliver the right ACMI and Charter services to our customers.

At the beginning of 2014 NGA operates a fleet of four MD-11F freighters for long-term ACMI customers and on ad-hoc charter basis.

Since the commencement of the commercial operations in August 2011 NGA has performed more than 2,000 flights to our customers satisfaction.

Route Map for NGA:

Copyright Photo: Marco Finelli. Former Finnair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (F) OH-LGC (msn 48512) wears only small Nordic Global Airlines titles at its Helsinki base.

Video: Skateboarding in HEL

No one equates skateboarding with secure airports, until now…

Video by Match Made in HEL:

For two days in October 2014 some of the best skateboarders from East and West were connected to share their passion on the top of the world at Helsinki Airport. This first-ever skate session was hosted by Arto Saari and his world-class crew. See the amazing footage of when these skaters got access to totally unique skate spots to test the limits of the gateway between East and West.