Finnair discontinues in-flight and pre-order retail sales

Finland’s flag carrier, Finnair, has bucked the general trend among airlines to maximise their ancillary revenue opportunities, with the decision to discontinue both in-flight and pre-order retail sales. Beginning this spring season, the airline will no longer sell cosmetics, accessories, gifts and other retail products. In-flight sales will end on 28th February 2023, and pre-orders on 18th April 2023.

Finnair has not ended all ancillary revenue activities though, with customers still able to pre-order meals and to buy snacks and beverages on board. Finnair Plus members can also continue to buy Finnair Plus awards and products, as well as home delivery products from the Finnair Shop.

“Onboard and pre-order shopping has become a less important service among our customers”, explained Valtteri Helve, head of product offering at Finnair. “In spring 2020, we announced that we were discontinuing in-flight sales on our flights within the EU as part of our goal to reduce the overall weight of our aircraft, and now it is time to take the next step. Food and beverage sales on flights will continue, of course, and we will continue to develop our service.”

There is some good news for Finnair shopping fans though, as the airline is launching a final discount campaign on 1st February 2023, when customers can buy products onboard or pre-order items with a 40% discount. The in-flight shopping will be available on long-haul flights (except the Doha route), and flights to the Canary Islands, Dubai, Egypt, Iceland, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Customers can pre-order products for all flights with a duration of over two hours.