newstodate.aero
Aug 05, 2010 (newstodate): Finnair is now bolstering its position in the home market vis-a-vis increasing competition from the Latvian carrier, airBaltic.
Finnair now seeks to strengthen its domestic and regional feeder traffic network by entering into a cooperation agreement with the airline Flybe that will initially be deployed to serving routes from Helsinki to Tampere, Turku and Tallinn in Estonia.
Cooperation will begin at the end of October with three Bombardier Q400 aircraft based at Helsinki airport, and the agreement may be extended, if necessary, Finnair says.
-Expanding our cooperation base will give us flexibility to modify our feeder traffic network according to needs. Flybe is a potential partner as we strengthen our position on our home market in Scandinavia and in the Baltic Sea area, says Ville Iho, Finnair SVP Resources Management.
The move may be connected to the competition building up between Finnair and airBaltic over control over Finnair's current partner airline, Finncomm as airBaltic has aired strong interest in buying into this carrier.
So far, Finnair has managed to obtain a court decision to defend its rights to remain first bidder in case Finncomm opens up for sale of stakes.
In 2010 alone, airBaltic has opened five new routes to Finland, including two form Tallinn, Estonia, and three from Riga, Latvia.
airBaltic has also aired plans for setting up a new hub in Finland to provide direct flights to European destinations, and even establishing a new carrier in Finland if it cannot reach an agreement with an existing regional airline in Finland to fulfill its needs for expansion.
Finnair now seeks to strengthen its domestic and regional feeder traffic network by entering into a cooperation agreement with the airline Flybe that will initially be deployed to serving routes from Helsinki to Tampere, Turku and Tallinn in Estonia.
Cooperation will begin at the end of October with three Bombardier Q400 aircraft based at Helsinki airport, and the agreement may be extended, if necessary, Finnair says.
-Expanding our cooperation base will give us flexibility to modify our feeder traffic network according to needs. Flybe is a potential partner as we strengthen our position on our home market in Scandinavia and in the Baltic Sea area, says Ville Iho, Finnair SVP Resources Management.
The move may be connected to the competition building up between Finnair and airBaltic over control over Finnair's current partner airline, Finncomm as airBaltic has aired strong interest in buying into this carrier.
So far, Finnair has managed to obtain a court decision to defend its rights to remain first bidder in case Finncomm opens up for sale of stakes.
In 2010 alone, airBaltic has opened five new routes to Finland, including two form Tallinn, Estonia, and three from Riga, Latvia.
airBaltic has also aired plans for setting up a new hub in Finland to provide direct flights to European destinations, and even establishing a new carrier in Finland if it cannot reach an agreement with an existing regional airline in Finland to fulfill its needs for expansion.