Finnair is dry-leasing two Airbus A330s to Australian carrier Qantas, to support the Oneworld partners’ capacity relationship.
Speaking during a third-quarter briefing on 30 October, Finnair chief Turkka Kuusisto said four of the carrier’s A330s were currently “tied” to the Qantas collaboration.
But two A330s which have been wet-leased under the agreement, along with their crews, will return to Finnair’s own network for the summer 2026 season.
Kuusisto adds that one of its A330s will be withdrawn because its lease agreement is not being extended, bringing the overall Finnair fleet of the twinjets down to seven.
The wet-lease had supported Qantas’s operations on the Sydney-Bangkok and Sydney-Singapore routes, and had enabled Finnair to utilise the A330s and provide work for their pilots.
But the reliability of the arrangement had been threatened by industrial action by Finnish pilots.
Kuusisto says Finnair is also progressing with plans to modernise part of its narrowbody fleet.
He says the carrier is looking to “run a thorough and diligent process”, and is holding discussions with aircraft and engine manufacturers.
Finnair says the renewal will reinforce its regional network, support emission-reduction targets and enhance customer experience.
The carrier has 30 narrowbody jets, comprising 15 Airbus A321s, 10 A320s and five A319s.
Finnair has reined-in its capacity ambitious for the full year, expecting a total increase of just 2% for 2025 compared with the previous estimate of 5% – itself a halving of the mid-year estimate of 10%, before the carrier accounted for industrial action impacts.
The airline has also narrowed its full-year forecast for comparable operating profit to €30-60 million ($35-69 million) on revenues of €3.1 billion.
Its expectation is based on the weakening of North Atlantic demand as well as indirect effects of industrial action and unplanned aircraft repair – one of the carrier’s Airbus A350s struck a hangar door with its wing-tip in August, says Kuusisto, and has yet to return to service.
