Finnair’s long-haul network was rocked during the dark days of the pandemic that saw a core sector of its network out of bounds to general travel for two years. When travel in Asia started to pick up again, the momentum was again squashed amid the Russian airspace ban. Despite these difficulties, the flag carrier of Finland has found a way to optimize its fleet.
All in the air
The airline holds a fleet of 80 aircraft, split by both narrowbody and widebody units. As per ch-aviation data, when it comes to widebodies, the airline has eight Airbus A330-300s and 17 A350-900s. Notably, all these aircraft are currently active.
The busy plane schedule is thanks to creative thinking and relationship-building with other airlines. This month, Finnair famously began a collaboration with Qantas in a six-year deal, which will see the Australian outfit wet lease A330s to meet demand from Sydney to Singapore and Bangkok for 2.5 years before a dry lease initiative kicks in.
This isn’t the only move in this manner from Finnair. It also has an agreement with British Airways that sees the UK national carrier wet lease four A320s with crew until the end of March 2024.
Expanding further, the airline deploys its A330s on three daily flights to Doha via a partnership with Qatar Airways. The widebodies can be spotted flying from the capital of Qatar to Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki.
