Originally Posted by
BAeuro
But if no other European airline can make it work, why would Finnair, and why now?
I believe it's sort of a 'now or never' situation.
Firstly, all of Europe is suddenly travelling like there's no tomorrow. That means that most airlines suffer from a shortage of planes. AY doesn't – they have a surplus of planes because their main strategy is in ruins. China is closed, Japan is closed, Russian airspace is closed. I am sure it would be more profitable to send those widebodies once a day to PVG or NRT in normal times, but right now that is not an option. So to send them to HNL 0.75 times a day might be one of the best uses for them
in the current situation.
Secondly, no European carrier has ever attempted a nonstop flight to Hawaii so we don't really know how much business it would attract. With good connections at HEL, AY would have hundreds of millions of potential customers.
Thirdly, with the prices quoted by
Miamiflyer8, with the current competition of one-stop connections on the US mainland, I believe AY could set prices high enough for the upcoming winter season. Could be that this route would be just a one-season specialty, though.