Finnair will wet lease an Airbus A340 aircraft and crew from Hi Fly for a period of 2 months to accommodate pilot trainings that are necessary to secure the airline’s growing operations in summer 2017 and beyond.
Finnair will continue to receive new Airbus A350 aircraft in 2017, and is currently undertaking a massive pilot training program to train its A330 pilots for A350 operations.
The Hi Fly aircraft will operate on Finnair’s Helsinki-New York route between November 3, 2016 and January 8, 2017. The cockpit and cabin crew comes from Hi Fly, but the flights will have two Finnair service crew members on board to support the delivery of Finnair’s customer service concept.
“Pilot trainings are a part of our preparations for growth. This wet lease is a part of our efforts to ensure punctual operations during the next months, when a large share of Finnair pilots are tied up in A350 related trainings”, says Jaakko Schildt, Chief Operating Officer, Finnair.
The wet leased aircraft has 24 full-flat seats in Business Class, and 271 seats in Economy Class, all with seat-back Inflight Entertainment system.
Finnair operates daily from Helsinki to John F Kennedy Airport, in New York. Finnair communicates the change in the operating carrier to customers directly.