Helsinki Flyer

This came up with the news this morning:

Finnair and Flybe to set up Flybe Nordic and acquire Finnish Commuter Airlines
Finnair Plc
Press release

Finnair and Flybe to set up Flybe Nordic and acquire Finnish Commuter Airlines

Finnair and the largest European regional airline Flybe of UK announced today
that the companies will jointly acquire Finnish Commuter Airlines (FCA), a
Finnish regional carrier owned by Finncomm Oy. The companies will create a new
joint venture called Flybe Nordic AB, to be split 60 % Flybe and 40 % Finnair.
Flybe Nordic AB's board will comprise three representatives from Flybe, and two
from Finnair.

Flybe Nordic AB will acquire FCA for a total consideration of 25 million euro
plus net cash in the acquired business at completion. Under the terms of the
joint venture, Flybe will pay 12 million euro cash and Finnair 13 million euro
cash. Completion is expected to take place within four weeks from signing. FCA
will continue operating FCA's existing domestic routes under the Flybe brand.
Flybe plans to take over the day-to-day operation and management of the airline
from August 1, 2011.

"The joint venture with Flybe and the acquisition of FCA are 100% in line with
the Finnair strategy. Our target is to partner with the industry best to create
added value to our customers and shareholders. FCA's current network is a
tremendous asset when we continue to further develop our regional network. We
believe that Flybe's point-to-point experience and their unique business model
will complement Finnair's international network competencies in an optimal
manner a
nd enables us to build a true Nordic regional champion", says Finnair
CEO Mika Vehviläinen.

"We are excited about the co-operation with Flybe", notes Vehviläinen. "Finnair
and Flybe have complementing competencies and we believe that Flybe's
experience in regional flying combined with Finnair's local knowledge and
international operations will be a winning combination. We look forward working
together and building a new strong player in the Nordic and Baltic markets."

Finnair to purchase FCA fleet and lease it on market terms

The FCA fleet will transfer to Finnair: Finnair will buy the FCA fleet of nine
ATR 72 aircraft at market price and lease them to FCA, owned by Flybe Nordic.
In addition, Finnair has committed to purchase the three Finncomm ordered,
high-demand ATR 72s, to be delivered autumn 2011 and autumn 2012. The aircraft
will be leased directly to FCA at a market price.

The remaining four ATR 42 aircraft owned by Finncomm Oy will be leased to FCA
for certain predefined periods. This FCA fleet of modern and cost effective
turbo-prop planes allows FCA operate value-adding regional flights in the
target markets. In addition, FCA will continue leasing of two Finnair owned
E170 aircraft.

Finnair's investment in these nine ATR 72's will be approximately 104 million
euro including 70 million euro debt liabilities for the ATR fleet.

"There's a huge demand and undersupply in the industry for the ATR aircrafts.
Due to the fuel efficie
ncy they are optimal for regional flying. For Finnair
this is a great opportunity to strengthen our fleet and as such it is a smart
investment and ensures that our new venture will have the required capacity
from day one", continues Vehviläinen.

Finnair has partnered with FCA for over 10 years to provide point to point and
feeder traffic services in various Finnish and Baltic markets. FCA is Finland's
largest domestic airline by operations, currently flying approximately 900,000
passengers annually. It currently has 15 regional aircraft and an annual
turnover of approximately €90 million. The company employs approximately 400
people.

FCA will continue to operate its current routes under Flybe brand but the
intention of Finnair and Flybe is to develop the joint venture to become the
leading regional airline for the Nordic and Baltic countries in the coming
years.

The acquisition is subject to approval of the relevant competition authorities.

Note to the editors:
The companies will shed more light to the future visions of the company in a
press conference to be held today at 11 am Finnish time at Vip President
-terminal, Liikelentotie 10, Vantaa.

Finnair Plc
Communications
1.7.2011

Further information:
Arja Suominen, Senior Vice President, Communications and Corporate
Responsibility
tel. +358 9 818 4028

Finnair Media Desk
tel. +358 9 818 4020, comms(a)finnair.com
Photobank: http://gallery.finnair.com
Finna
ir blogs: http://blogs.finnair.com
Finnair on Facebook: www.facebook.com/finnair
Finnair Group website: www.finnairgroup.com
Feel Finnair: http://feel.finnair.com
via.Helsinki: www.viahelsinki.com
Finnair's mobile service: m.finnair.com

Finnair
Finnair is the fast boutique airline between Asia and Europe. Established in
1923, Finnair is one of the world's longest continuously operating airlines.
Following its strategy, Finnair has in recent years emerged as a major player
in connecting East and West. Finnair's route network has the fastest
connections between 10 destinations in Asia and 50 in Europe making Helsinki a
significant hub between Asia and Europe. The company has determinately invested
in a new fleet which consumes significantly less fuel than older aircrafts.
Finnair Plus program serves Finnair's frequent flyers, who will also benefit
from Finnair's membership in the quality oneworld alliance and its cooperation
with other industry partners.

Flybe
Headquartered in Exeter, UK, Flybe is Europe's largest regional airline and the
UK's largest domestic airline, supported by one of Europe's leading regional
aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (‘‘MRO'') businesses, trading as
Flybe Aviation Services and a developing training business, trading as the
Flybe Training Academy.

WilcoRoger

Most interesting!!

Why does AY pay more for 40% than than Flybe for 60%?

It will be very interesting to see what will be the strategy for the renamed FC. Regional Scandinavian? Scan-UK?

Hopefully one can still earn OW (or at least AY) points.

EDIT - now I see. Nordic - Baltic regional. Giving BT a run for their money (?)

SPBanker

Flybe pays 25m, Finnair 13m. Or did I misunderstand something? (Quite possible.)

WilcoRoger

It says:

Flybe will pay 12 million euro cash and Finnair 13 million euro cash

so the 25 mill is the total

Helsinki Flyer

More info about their plans:

Flybe and Finnair reveal joint vision for Nordic passengers following acquisition of Finnish Commuter Airlines
Finnair Plc
Press release

Flybe and Finnair reveal joint vision for Nordic passengers following
acquisition of Finnish Commuter Airlines

Europe's largest regional airline to deliver new routes and lower fares,
creating an invigorated marketplace for Nordic regional aviation.

Further to this morning's announcement to the London and Helsinki Stock
Exchanges, Flybe and Finnair are proud to lay out their joint vision following
the acquisition, subject to competition clearance, of Finnish Commuter Airlines
(FCA) with their intention to create an airline that will become the leading
regional airline for the Nordic and Baltic countries. As announced today, the
acquisition of FCA will take the form of a joint venture, to be split 60 %
Flybe and 40 % Finnair, with Flybe taking over the day-to-day operation of the
airline from Monday 1st August 2011.

With the further intention of expanding into Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and
Latvia, the new airline will differ substantially to those regional airlines
previously operating in these marketplaces. Firstly, it plans to introduce
Flybe's already successful quality low fare concept/product to the Finnish,
Nordic and Baltic regions, allowing millions of business and leisure passengers
the opportunity to travel at affordable prices. In addition, the company will
benefit from Finnair's excellent connections to Europe and Asia as well as its
local expertise. In short, Flybe and Finnair want to create more Flying Fin
ns
by offering an affordable aviation product that understands the needs of the
Finnish nation.

Flybe comes with a distinguished track record of high profile international
trade and consumer awards included amongst which are those that recognise its
success and commitment to delivering a quality customer service-oriented
product. This includes an Economy Plus option for the business traveller and an
added bonus of knowing they are flying with the airline that initiated the
world's first eco-labelling scheme for the aviation industry.

Secondly, it will fly non-stop and directly between regional airports enabling
customers to save time. This system of ‘point-to-point' flying will open up new
destinations and it will complement Finnair's international network operations.
The new airline is designed to support and stimulate regional Nordic economies
in the way that Flybe has already so successfully done around the United
Kingdom and Europe. By introducing new regional routes, new flights and new
timetables, the airline aims to invigorate previously unstimulated markets that
until now have not been serviced by other carriers.

The plan is to announce details in mid August of extensive new route network
that will operate from the start of the IATA Winter Season (Sunday 30th October
2011). This will supplement the key lifeline routes from the Finnish regions
currently operated by FCA.

Flybe chose FCA as an acquisition target as its economics make it a vi
able base
from which to expand into the Nordic and Baltic States region, maintaining this
competitive advantage will be a key facet of the future strategy.

Commenting on the Flybe's vision, Jim French, Flybe Chairman and Chief
Executive said: “Finnish and Nordic passengers will see something very
different from what has been available to them in the past. Flybe and Finnair
have come together in a genuine partnership of equals that will bring huge
benefits not just for Finnish passengers but also for the country's economy.”

He continued: “We look forward to working closely with FCA staff as we embark
together on this exciting new venture to introduce a great value, high quality
product to the Finnish travelling public. In establishing much-needed
point-to-point routes, opening new bases in Finland, expanding into new markets
- and in the process, becoming a recognised champion dedicated to the Nordic
regions, the companies hope to create a brand new generation of Flying Finns!”

Mika Vehvilainen, Chief Executive of Finnair emphasized the benefits of the new
company: " We have joined the forces with Flybe to establish a strong,
complementary and cost-efficient operator in the Nordic market. In addition to
point to point connections, the airline will form an effective feeder platform
for our international operations. We also felt that thanks to Flybe's long
experience in regional point-to-point flying the company was the best possible
part
ner for a network operator like Finnair. Together we will be able to take
the customer experience on a new level."

"We are establishing a strong player in the Northern European local aviation
market. The vision of the new company is in line with Finnair's partnership
strategy and it is an example of how we are building powerful networks with
other leading industry parties, such as Flybe. We expect that our partnership
will create a competitive and sustainable player in the Nordic markets. This
will benefit also those travellers who use Helsinki as their transfer hub on
their way to and from Asia and Europe."

Juhani Pakari, Chief Executive of Finncomm commented: “These negotiations have
been long and thorough, and we are very happy with the result. This is a good
solution for customers as well as for our staff. This is an excellent
opportunity to develop the company to be the best regional airline in Northern
Europe.”

nordic

It was not mentioned but I wonder if it would be possible for FlyBe UK to start flying from regional UK cities (EDI, GLA, NCL, BHX) or from Dublin to Helsinki to feed the Finnair long-haul flights. The carriers from the Gulf region are quite successful from many of the UK regional airports. Not that this has anything to do with FlyBe Nordic, but one could imagine that more co-operation could be done.

TTL

Much of blaah blaah could perhaps be summarised as follows:

Bus gates every time.
Cramped seats in cramped planes.
Cost cutting to its extreme.
No FF points.

(OT: But rather with them than with KF with their increasingly unreliable service! Twice have had a cancellation within two weeks announced as SMS 6 hours prior to takeoff around 01.00 AM. What a complete, utter mess the HEL T1 check in area currently is! No transfer desk service airside before 8:00 AM. No telephone service at all between 10:00 PM and 8:00 AM. I do not believe anyone could perform worse than that...)

nordic

Although it's just an imaginary example of a future ad, the power point presentation on flybe.com shows such routes as Helsinki-Tartu, Helsinki-Umeå, Tallinn-Turku, Tallinn-Jyväskylä, Tallinn-Stockholm, Helsinki-Trondheim, Helsinki-Mariehamn. I think these examples should not be taken seriously. However, it seems that it is really their intention to provide new routes to Helsinki and we will also see new routes bypassing Helsinki. Well, that's exactly what they promised in the press release.

The Trondheim example is odd. They did not include Norway in the countries to be served and that route would most likely to be served by joint service between Norwegian and AY.

The imaginary ad also says that fares start from 29 €. Maybe this indicates that low fares will be launched.

One of the reasons why they chose joint-venture with AY was AY+

EmAAx

Any rumors if this combination will result in oneworld partner awards being available on Finncomm? This would make the Baltic a great destination for oneworld flyers.

nordic

Not that I know of. However, given that BA has good relations with Flybe (they own 15 % of it) there could be some co-operration with oneworld. Finnair's 40 % and BA's 9 % through Flybe means that Flybe nordic is owned 49 % by oneworld airlines .

There was interesting piece of information in the flightforum.fi. Flybe will arrange a press conference this wednesday in Estonia concerning future regional network plans from Tallinn and Tartu. Maybe there will be HEL-TAY flights.

EmAAx

Flybe Nordic announces nine new routes
http://www.anna.aero/2011/08/25/flyb...ne-new-routes/

On an unrelated note, I watched the press conference and Finnair Plus will be the new loyalty program for FlyBe. Lets hope this leads to OneWorld benefits being available on FlyBe!

EmAAx

Just got off the phone with American Airlines. The agent found the relevant rules and quoted me Flybe flights are not eligible for Oneworld partner awards

helahela

One thing is blatantly stupid. The fact that Flybe Nordic doesn't qualify for rewards4all and you can't use your rewards4all points with Flybe Nordic.