newstodate.aero

Oct 31, 2023 (newstodate): The first Finnair Airbus A330-300 aircraft has now started operations for the Australian partner, Qantas.
   The opening flight was performed on October 30, 2023, as the aircraft landed at Sidney Airport from Singapore.
   The second Finnair Airbus A330-300 aircraft will join Qantas in March 2024, allocated to serving the route between Sidney and Bangkok.
   Initially, the two aircraft will first serve with Qantas for a two-year period starting in 2023 on a wet-lease contract expiring in 2025 for flights between Sidney and Singapore. Next, the aircraft will continue serving Qantas under a 2.5 years dry-lease contract.
   Finnair pilots will fly scheduled Finnair flights from Helsinki to Singapore and from Helsinki to Bangkok; then, they will continue flying scheduled Qantas flights between Singapore, Bangkok and Sydney before returning to their home base in Helsinki.   
   The cabin crew are provided by Finnair partners based in Singapore and Bangkok, and the aircraft maintenance is performed by Finnair's partners at the Qantas destinations.
   The contracts with Qantas come in timely for Finnair; since the closure of the Russian airspace, Finnair has built a geographically more balanced network, as avoiding the Russian airspace lengthened the flight times between Finnair’s Helsinki hub and its Asian destinations, rendering A330 flights on the Asian lanes less viable compared to the capacity of the Airbus A350.
   The agreement with Qantas is a part of Finnair’s determined efforts to ensure the optimal use of its eight Airbus A330 fleet, which is range-limited in its deployment in Finnair’s own long-haul operations under the prevailing conditions.