Finnair to Resume Nagoya Flights, Expands Winter Network

DALLAS — Finnair (AY) has announced that it will resume flights to Nagoya, Japan (NGO) on May 30, 2024. The Finnish carrier will reinstate connections from its Helsinki (HEL) hub to the Japanese city, flying the Airbus A350-900XWB twice a week nonstop.

The new destination will add to the already existing connections to Tokyo Narita (NRT), Tokyo Haneda (HND), and Osaka (KIX), for a total of four non-stop flights to Japan from Helsinki.

“We are delighted to resume our connection to Nagoya, where we used to fly before the pandemic. We already fly to Tokyo, Haneda, and Narita, as well as Osaka. In the summer season of 2024, we’ll have a total of twenty weekly frequencies to Japan,” says Ole Orvér, Chief Commercial Officer at Finnair.

Crisscrossing the North Pole, Winter Widebody Destinations

The closure of the Russian airspace complicated AY's operations, forcing the airline to redefine its strategy. Flights to Asian destinations are operated exclusively by the Airbus A350-900XWB, which enables the carrier to fly over the North Pole for up to 15 hours.

Together with the reinstatement of the nonstop flight to Nagoya, it has updated its portfolio of winter destinations for 2024. The airline is adding flights to the British Isles, Iceland, and destinations in Portugal and the Canary Islands. Faro, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura will be served by two weekly connections from Helsinki.

Finnair also plans to increase the number of destinations served by a widebody aircraft, adding three weekly frequencies to Dubai operated by the A330. The A350 will be used for flights to Las Palmas. Frequencies to the British Isles will also increase in the winter of 2024.

Manchester will receive five additional weekly flights, and Dublin and Edinburgh will receive two more.

This past November 1, the airline celebrated its centenary. Originally named Aero, it is the sixth-oldest airline in the world still in operation. You can read more about Finnair's history and strategy in the November issue of Airways.

Featured image: Simone Chellini/Airways