Finnair (AY, Helsinki Vantaa) is mulling adding new generation long-range narrowbody jets to serve secondary cities in China where demand does not justify using widebody equipment, outgoing Chief Executive Officer Pekka Vauramo has told the South China Morning Post.
"The range [of the new types] looks a little bit extended and maybe there is a way to cover the smaller cities in China [from Helsinki Vantaa]," Vauramo has said.
Finnair has developed into one of the leading European carriers serving China, benefitting from the advantageous location of Helsinki.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the Finnish flag carrier currently offers 7,840 weekly seats between Helsinki and mainland China, amounting to a 4.2% market share by capacity between Europe (including Russia) and mainland China, which gives it the ninth position overall and the fifth among European carriers. The leading airlines connecting China with Europe are Air China (43,901 weekly seats and 23.4% market share), China Eastern Airlines (19,804 weekly seats, 10.5%), and Lufthansa (16,942 weekly seats, 9.0%).
Finnair currently operates 28 weekly flights to mainland China, serving six cities in total: Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Xi'an Xianyang. Flights to each of Beijing and Shanghai are operated with A350-900s, while the remainder of the routes is served with A330-300 equipment. In addition, the carrier flies 10x weekly to Hong Kong International using A350-900 equipment.
The carrier is actively analysing new Chinese destinations as it is the biggest growth market for Finnair. Vauramo has said that Finnair would also consider launching direct services from Lapland in northern Finland to China in order to better serve the growing demand from Chinese tourists for this region. Currently, flights to airports in Lapland, such as Rovaniemi, Kittila, and Ivalo, require a transfer in Helsinki.
Finnair would also be interested in adding more frequencies to Beijing and Shanghai but is struggling to secure the required slots.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Finnair's long-range fleet currently includes eleven A350-900s and eight A330-300s. The carrier also operates eight A319-100s, ten A320-200s, and eighteen A321-200s, while its regional subsidiary NoRRA Nordic Regional Airlines operates twelve ATR72-500s and twelve E190LRs.
Potential narrowbody types which Finnair could deploy to China include the A321neo(LR)s or B737-8s. Both types are either already operated or planned to be operated on numerous transatlantic services.
