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Finnair considers A321LR for Chinese second and third tier cities
June 29th 2018
Finnair is taking a close look at the A321LR for potential “long-and-thin routes” to Mainland second and third tier cities, Finnair CEO, Pekka Vauramo, said in Beijing this week where he was attending the 30th anniversary of Finnair’s Helsinki-Beijing nonstop service. Read More »
Specifically, Finnair is looking for aircraft in the 200-seat segment which may or may not feature a premium cabin. Such an aircraft could operate on tourism-dependant routes such as Rovaniemi-Beijing or Ivalo-Shanghai.
Mainline Finnair is an all-Airbus operator. The oneworld member has eight A319s, 10 A320s, 18 A321s, eight A330-300s and 11 A350-900s. Its Nordic Regional Airlines subsidiary operates ATR and Embraer jets.
Finnair serves Beijing (daily), Shanghai (daily), Guangzhou (four weekly), Nanjing (three weekly), Chongqing (four weekly) and Xian (three weekly). The carrier also flies A350s to Hong Kong ten times a week.
The carrier would like to increase frequency to Beijing and Shanghai to double daily but has struggled to receive approval for the expanded services from the Mainland’s Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The addition of the A321LR could potentially open routes from Helsinki to Changsha, Wuhan, Xiamen, Qingdao and Shenyang for the carrier.
Speaking in Beijing, Vauramo said: “China's opening up is continuing. And opening up makes growth happen. In the early days, people in Finland and other European countries came to China to sell things. Now it has turned around. More Chinese go to Europe to promote the export of goods and investment.”
