Finnair cuts flights for October and gives up reopening routes

Finnish national carrier Finnair announced on Wednesday further flight reductions for October due to low travel demand.

According to a press release, the company intends to cut flights from its previous traffic programme and approximately 70-80 daily operations will be served instead of the 200 previously planned. In total, Finnair will fly 42 destinations in October, but frequencies will be reduced on almost all routes.

The company also temporarily gives up its plans to reopen some lines, both national and international. Route starts planned for October to destinations like Bergen, Barcelona, Madrid, St. Petersburg and Stuttgart will be postponed, as well as domestic destinations, Turku and Tampere.

In October 2019, Finnair flew about 350 flights a day and had more than 100 destinations in Europe, Asia and North America.

Japan, Korea and China

Long-haul flights continue to focus on Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, which are also important cargo destinations. A Nanjing route is operated during September and October. Finnair will also continue cargo-only flights to New York and Singapore.  

“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," says Ole Orvér, Finnair's Chief Commercial Officer. “However, as travel restrictions have a direct impact on demand, operating the traffic programme we published earlier is unfortunately not feasible.”

Finnair communicates flight cancellations directly to affected customers and offers customers an alternative flight when possible. Customers can also opt for a full refund of the ticket, if the new flight offered is not suitable.