As of September 6th, Finnair will resume the services between its base at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL) and Baiyun International Airport (CAN), which serves the city of Guangzhou. It will offer a weekly connection in both directions. Operations will be carried out by Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
According to a statement from the Finnish airline, flights from Helsinki will depart on Tuesdays, while return services will depart on Thursdays. The company is already marketing the flights through its official sales channels and agencies as of today.
«We are excited to return to Guangzhou and look forward to gradually increasing our offering for the Chinese market», said Ole Orvér, Finnair’s CCO. Currently, the airline connects the Finnish capital with Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport (PVG) once a week.
However, Finnair will resume its operations to Guangzhou in a substantially different context. The usual route to the Far East included overflight of Russian airspace, which is now restricted for most European operators.
As a result of the restrictions, flights will have to follow a route drawn to the south of Russia. As a result, they will take about two hours longer than the usual route to the north. The company’s network of long-haul flights to Asia, which would naturally fly over Russia, was particularly affected by the situation. These are also some of the airline’s main markets.
The extension of flight time impacts on fuel costs and thus results in lower profitability. The loss of some of the Asian markets following the invasion of Ukraine last February, and the consequent mutual implementation of sanctions between the European Union and Russia, added a further complication to Finnair’s plans. Now, however, it hopes to gradually increase its services to China.
