It seems the aviation recovery has stalled for Finnair – who are planning to cut their flying programme from October
Finnair Airbus A350-900 at Helsinki Vantaa Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
The airline reports that demand for air travel in Finnair’s network has recovered slowly due to the development of the corona pandemic and related travel restrictions – with the previous planned uplifts being changed due to low demand.
Finnair plans to reduce flights from its planned operation and fly approximately 70–80 daily flights instead of the previously planned approximately two hundred flights. Last year the airline operated 350 flights a day, to over 100 destinations.
The airline will serve 42 destinations in October, but frequencies will be cut on almost all routes. In addition, services to Bergen, Barcelona, Madrid, St. Petersburg and Stuttgart will be postponed, as well as domestic destinations, Turku and Tampere.
For those affected, the airline will be communicating your cancellations to you, offering an alternative flight when possible. Customers can also opt for a full refund of the ticket if the new flight offered is not suitable.
In Quotes
Ole Orvér, Finnair’s Chief Commercial Officer said
“We want to maintain critical connections for Finland to European centres and to our most important Asian destinations, as travel is vital for the Finnish business community,”
“However, as travel restrictions have a direct impact on demand, operating the traffic programme we published earlier is unfortunately not feasible.”
It’s not going to get easier
As airlines are adjusting to the ever-increasing complex environment, with different governments imposing different rules, one thing is clear – people aren’t wanting to fly at the moment, be it through fear of flight, or the fear of being stuck in quarantine when they get to their destination/return home.
And as such, expect frequencies to drop, as the networks get more fragile over the winter months.
For airlines and the travel industry – the makings of a very cruel winter is ahead.
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