Finnair to update long-haul fleet with 12 new Airbus jets

Present complement of Boeing MD-11s to be phased out by 2012

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Finland's national carrier Finnair has placed an order with Airbus for 12 new wide-bodied jets. Nine of the new planes will be of the A350-900 type and a further three will be the slightly smaller A340-300E model.
      The planes will gradually replace the airline's long-haul fleet of Boeing MD-11s, and the deal, worth in excess of EUR 1,000 million, is seen a reflection of Finnair's confidence in the growth potential of its Asian routes.
      The A350-900 is a twin-engined wide-bodied jet thus far still in the design stage. According to Airbus it will make its first flight in 2009 and will go into commercial service with airlines from the end of 2010. Finnair will take delivery of the planes between 2011 and 2013. This means that the company's current fleet of MD-11 long-haul jets will be phased out by the spring of 2012. However, an eighth MD-11 will join the roster next year in response to the burgeoning traffic between Europe and Asia.
      The A340-300E, on the other hand, is the latest version of a four-engined long-haul jet first introduced in 1993. Finnair will take delivery of the three wide-bodied jets in 2007-08.
     
The total value of the purchases is in excess of one billion euros, although neither party was eager to talk specifically about prices.
      It is unclear as yet how Finnair - which is in relatively good health, debt-free and with profit after financial items of around EUR 36 million to the end of 3Q/2005 - intends to finance the transaction, and which of the planes would be bought outright by the airline and which would be acquired through a lease-back agreement.
     
One thing is clear, however: the new aircraft are being bought as a means of implementing the company's present strategy, which leans on the growing Asian market. Roughly one-fourth of Finnair's revenue now comes from Asian routes, according to Finnair President and CEO Keijo Suila, who is to retire at year's end and will hand over to Jukka Hienonen.
      Finnair currently has more than 40 flights a week to Asian destinations, and there are reportedly plans afoot to open up new routes to Japan and India next year.


Links:
  Finnair Group Press Release
  The new aircraft seen in Finnair livery

Helsingin Sanomat