SINGAPORE – Asia will play a key role in Finnair’s plans to expand its capacity by 11-12% in 2019, said Tamas Hanyi, general manager, APAC of Finnair.
Finnair has homed in on several destinations in North Asia, a priority for the airline as seeks to leverage the efficiency from a 24-hour rotation schedule of its aircraft.
The airline will boost capacity to its key market, Japan, with daily flights to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at the start of the 2020 summer season. It will also be operating a seasonal service to Sapporo from December 15, 2019 to March 27, 2020.
The airline is also opening a new route to South Korea’s Busan with a thrice weekly service from March 30.
The addition brings the airline’s network to more than 100 European destinations and 20 destinations in Asia.
Last month, the airline opened a thrice weekly service to Beijing’s Daxing Airport that brings its operation to seven destinations in Greater China.
The airline has committed to making its operations sustainable. In August, Finnair was among the first airlines to launch flights powered by biofuel.
“At this point in time, biofuel is not readily available and we need to improve and make it more available not just for us, but for everyone,” said Mr Hanyi.
“It’s not only the responsibility of the airlines, agents or customers – all of us have to work together. We believe in making the financial commitment to build sustainable operations because that is the only way to build a long-term business,” he added.
Finnair recently invested in flight planning software that will improve flight routing and operations in order to reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions. It flies a fleet of A350s, which also use 25% less fuel.