Finnair is looking to restart flight operations between Helsinki and Mumbai by March 2024 but cannot confirm this yet. The airline feels there is a lot of scope in India to expand and is looking at Bengaluru and Chennai as destinations.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-News18 as the airline completes 100 years in civil aviation, Finnair’s management said it had to suspend operations to Mumbai in July due to the closure of the Russian airspace. The flying time between Helsinki and Mumbai is usually seven hours, but it now takes nine hours due to the ongoing war, said general manager Sakari Romu.
Speaking about the challenges ailing the aviation space, Romu said the Ukraine war weighs heavily on the airline and has had a definite impact. But, the sector is now looking up, which is why Finnair is looking at restarting Mumbai-Helsinki direct flight.
“We might look at opening the Mumbai route by March but cannot confirm it. Flying time has increased substantially from India to Helsinki due to the war; what took 7 hours is now taking upwards of 9 hours,” he said.
Romu further said Finnair was bringing in higher revenue per flight from its operations to Mumbai as compared to Delhi.
Asked about passenger traffic after Covid, he said: “We are back to 60% business post Covid. New York is our second largest destination after Helsinki. India is a huge opportunity, we want to look at destinations like Bengaluru and Chennai.”
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