Finnair will launch a Helsinki — Melbourne flight in about 24 hours

According to TASS, citing Simple Flying, Finnair’s Helsinki — Melbourne route will operate daily with a stopover in Bangkok. Due to flying around Russian airspace, the trip will take about 24 hours.

Russian airspace is closed to airlines from “unfriendly” countries after restrictions imposed by them against Russian carriers. That is why Finnair planes cannot fly along the usual Asian routes and are forced to choose longer paths.

Finnair CEO Turkka Kuusisto previously called such competitive conditions “extremely unfair”. He noted that Chinese airlines, which have retained access to Russian airspace, gain a time advantage.

Due to route restructuring, Finnair has already changed its flights to Asia: the journey from Shanghai to Helsinki now takes four hours longer than before. Russian airspace was closed to Finnair in March 2022 in response to similar measures by Finland against Russian carriers.

Later, Finnair carried out major staff cuts. To reduce losses, the company also began leasing aircraft with crews to other airlines.

Sources

• TASS