Finnair speeds up its fleet renewal

Finnair is buying two Airbus A319 aircraft, which enter service in spring 2003. The aircraft were manufactured in 2000 and formerly belonged to the now bankrupt Belgian Sabena. Before their introduction to Finnair traffic, the aircraft will be fitted out in line with Finnair's current A319 fleet.

Thanks to Finnair's strong cash flow, the new aircraft will be funded in cash.

"We are taking advantage of the current buyer's market. With this purchase we are speeding up our fleet renewal," reasons SVP and CFO Petri Pentti. 

Finnair reorganised its Airbus A320 family aircraft orders at the end of 2001. Purchase orders for new aircraft were changed to more favourable lease agreements allowing the fleet renewal to continue as planned while giving the company more financial flexibility in last autumn's challenging situation.

In addition to the two A319s being purchased, Finnair's A320 family fleet will grow by five new leased aircraft in 2003. By the end of next year, the Finnair fleet will have 24 Airbus aircraft of different sizes with seating capacity varying between 123-182. The same crews can flexibly fly all three types of Airbus A320 series aircraft.

"The Airbus fleet is used on the majority of European and domestic routes.  Different sizes of Airbus can be used flexibly according to the booking situation. Our customers have also given positive feedback on the Airbuses travel comfort," says Henrik Arle, COO and SVP of Scheduled Passenger Traffic.

Thanks to the expedited fleet renewal, eight DC-9-51s can be retired as soon as the end of October 2003, which in turn increases the environmental friendliness of Finnair's aircraft fleet significantly. The Airbuses use environmentally friendly CFM engines.