Finnair ‘finn-ish’es 2022 on a high

With travel restrictions across China and Russia’s airspace, Finnair has faced challenging operating conditions. However, the airline reports that it is set to end 2022 on a high, as it continues to recover its network.

During December, the carrier expects to operate 8,252 flights – the highest number since March 2020, according to data from the aviation analytics firm, Cirium. The number of scheduled Finnair flights in December is also up 27% compared to the beginning of the year (based on January 2022 levels), with the airline adding more popular flights to its network.

The Finnish flag carrier has also expanded its reach during the year, with eight additional destinations being offered this December.

“As we prepare for our centenary in 2023, we are happy to be restoring frequencies to our most popular destinations and rebuilding our network,” said Andrew Fish, Finnair’s general manager for UK, Ireland, Benelux.

The airline has also announced that it will be expanding its services to Hong Kong from December, with flights from Helsinki rising from three times per week, to five. The new Asian services come just weeks after Finnair expanded its Japanese network, adding daily flights to Tokyo-Haneda.

Finnair has also resumed flights from Helsinki to Miami, in a boost to transatlantic travel. For the Middle East market, this winter, Finnair and Oneworld partner Qatar Airways established a long-term strategic cooperation, with the Finnish carrier also adding daily flights to Doha from Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

All this network expansion means that Finnair will serve 16 long-haul destinations this winter across North America, Asia and the Middle East.

The services have been timed to allow for easy connections onto Finnair’s European destinations – including London Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin, with some transfers taking just 35 minutes.