From the start of the northern summer season next year, Finnair is adding capacity to its destinations in Asia and the United States.
North America Capacity
From May of 2025, the airline will fly 11 weekly flights to Dallas/Fort Worth using its A350-900. The airline started flying to the city last year.
It is also adding frequency to Chicago, another oneworld hub, to daily from March 31, and increasing flights to Los Angeles to five weekly flights. Elsewhere in the U.S., flights to Seattle will go up to five weekly from the current three, with its flagship A350-900.
“Customers can connect via Dallas and Chicago to our partner American Airlines’ extensive network in North and South America, while Seattle and Los Angeles offer a gateway to other parts of the West Coast and Hawaii, through our partners American Airlines and Alaska Airlines,” Finnair’s chief revenue officer Christine Rovelli said in a news release.
Asia Recovery Continues
Despite the ongoing Russian airspace unavailability, the airline will ramp up capacity to Asia, Finnair’s largest market outside of Europe before the pandemic.
In Japan, Finnair will have daily frequency starting in May to Tokyo Narita along with Osaka, and will double capacity to Nagoya, to four weekly flights. All flights to Japan will utilize its A350.
In total, Finnair will operate 25 weekly flights to Japan next summer. The airline has yet to resume flights to Fukuoka and Sapporo in Japan, both of which were paused due to COVID-19.
In China, Finnair will increase capacity to its sole Chinese Mainland destination, Shanghai, from April 29, up to four weekly flights. The airline is adding capacity amid a series of withdrawals and capacity reductions in China by European carriers.
Despite the additional weekly flight, the airline’s presence in China is still significantly below pre-pandemic levels. The airline also previously served Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Nanjing, and Chongqing, with up to 35 weekly flights to China.
Changing Strategy
In 2022, the airline introduced a new corporate strategy in response to the Russian airspace closure and profitability issues. The airline vowed to balance its network by reorienting itself from Asia and optimizing its fleet. Since then, Finnair has repositioned capacity by increasing its presence in the U.S. while also leasing out aircraft.
Finnair started operating daily flights from Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki to Doha in cooperation with Qatar Airways, using three of its A330-300s. Another two Finnair A330s are wet-leased to Qantas for flights from Sydney to Bangkok and Singapore, and its A321s are operating for British Airways.
The additional capacity to Asia and North America will likely come from the return of some of the leased aircraft, as well as new deliveries. Finnair is expecting an additional A350 later this year, according to Aviation Week.
