CRO Interview: Finnair’s Network with Christine Rovelli

DALLAS — In October 2024, Finnair (AY) carried 1,020,000 passengers, a 10.8% year-on-year increase. The overall capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased that month by 6.6% year-on-year, as additional narrow-body capacity was deployed by AY after the wet lease outs to British Airways (BA) ended in March 2024. 

Recently, we discussed AY’s latest developments with Christine Rovelli, Chief Revenue Officer. 

First and foremost, the closure of Russian airspace impacted several airlines in Asia, including most European carriers flying to Asia. Taking advantage of its geographical position, AY built an efficient network that connected Europe and  Asia before the pandemic.

Since 2022, the airline had to remap its network without the possibility of flying over Russia.

Network Rejig

“It is not that unusual for airspace to be closed; we had to deal with it. Before the Ukraine war, we could fly over Russian airspace and maximize our connections from Europe to Asia. After the closure of the Russian airspace, we oriented our network more towards the United States, collaborating with our oneworld partners.” 

“However, we have maintained destinations in Asia, increasing service for summer 2025. We could not keep the same number of destinations in Asia with the same number of aircraft, so we optimized our network as a consequence,” Christine told Airways. 

Recently, AY has been leasing single- and twin-engineered aircraft to its oneworld Alliance partners, including BA, Qatar Airways (QR), and Qantas (QF).

“We do not have a wet-leasing model, but during the pandemic, we leased four A321s to British Airways and three A330s to Qatar Airways. This was a good combination for us and allowed us to help our partners. Two more A330s are flying for Qantas on the Bangkok and Singapore routes and will be leased for a longer period,” said Christine.

On Sustainability

Sustainability is one of the most important aspects of any airline operation. While trading off economics and sustainability can be challenging at times, some aspects, like weight reduction, can also go side by side. About sustainability, Christine told us:

“Like a work-life balance, you have to have both sustainability and good financial performance. We have been trying to do our part with SAF, using all the tools at our disposal. Sometimes you don’t have to make trade-offs, and the best thing for the environment can also be the best thing for our revenue and for the company.”

“We give our customers the opportunity to purchase SAF for their journey. We look at everything to remove weight from the aircraft and minimize our carbon footprint. From aircraft to head office, we are doing the best we can with the tools we have.”

In 2022, the airline introduced its new onboard experience, with a lighter, non-reclining business class seat, the AirLounge, and a brand-new premium economy cabin and service concept. As of November 2024, AY’s widebody airliners have been retrofitted with the new EUR 200 million project. Finally, Finnair is approaching 2025 with financial confidence.

“We are looking at a comparable EBIT margin of around 6% by the end of 2025, and we have made a lot of progress in 2024. We have paid off all the loans we took out during the two crises, and we are not going to take the eye off the ball from the financial side,” Christine concluded.

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