Finnair has entered into a deal with Qantas, under which they will lease two Airbus A330 planes to the Australian airline for two years. Once the wet-lease period is over, Qantas will dry-lease the aircraft without the crew, for an additional 2.5 years.
Throughout the wet-lease period, the planes will continue to operate Finnair’s regular routes between Helsinki and Singapore and Bangkok, before continuing on to Sydney and back. Finnair pilots will fly the planes throughout the whole itinerary, while the cabin crew will be based locally in Singapore and Bangkok.
The first A330 will start operating for Qantas in October 2023, with the second joining in early 2024. The aircraft will be serviced at airports where Qantas operates.
Qantas has been expanding its capacity on international routes, announcing plans to add one million additional seats across its network from October 2023. To ramp up capacity quickly, the Australian air carrier is bringing backplanes from storage, including the large Airbus A380 aircraft.
This agreement matches the current needs of both airlines. Finnair has been looking for efficient and profitable assignments for its long-haul fleet since the closure of Russian airspace created challenges in accessing key markets in Asia. Meanwhile, Qantas has been expanding its international capacity.
