I know I've on some occassions put speculative posts of routes into the thread https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/finn...equencies.html
which I guess is disruptive as that is more meant for announcements of de facto new and cancelled routes/frequencies.

So this thread might be better for general discussion of routes we've heard rumours about or routes that would make sense, or ...


I am opening with my pet peave HEL-CAN, which Finnair only serves seasonal, despite CAN being the third largest city in China.

Now, CAN-based CZ is leaving SkyTeam
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-c...KCN1NK0ZS?il=0
and it seems they are pondering joining OW or starting some kind of co-op (codeshares, joint venture, OW hangaround status et.c) . AA being minority owner makes it not unlikely (even though CX might be very anti).

Now, CZ joining OW would make CAN into a very interesting hub for say Finnair if they only could get their act together and serve the city with 2 daily.

I always find speculating interesting, so a great new thread! But who would've guessed that AY will start seasonal flights to OPO or BOD...

SYD has been a topic of speculation (and was it so that A350 could fly HEL-SYD nonstop?), but since EUR-SYD still requires a stop, I'd assume pax will want the stop in the middle rather than at one end.

HNL would be my favourite. Within the A350 range, right over the North Pole (bring back those certificates from the 1980s!) and, I suppose, with reasonable demand from Europe. Cargo might be difficult, though.

Sweden is a market where AY has tried a little this and that, but most attempts have failed. Apart from STO and GOT, I guess UME is the only destination that is still being operated (and perhaps VBY in the summer, but that's different since it's mostly traffic into Sweden rather than out of).

Germany might still have some cities AY could find viable.

In Asia, I'd expect TPE, MNL and KUL + a host of Chinese multimillion-cities no one has ever heard of.

As for CZ, CX has veto over them joining OW so I find it a bit unlikely.

In STO area NYO failed also.

Normal A359 won't make SYD, and like you say connections would not make perfect sense. BNE and ADL would be within range but with likely even less demand.

That would indeed be a cool route, and EU connections would work well too!
I'd rather go to PPT though, it would also be almost across north pole but just outside range.

HNL would certainly be interesting especially as HEL seems to be the closest EU capital to Hawaii. This geography fact really surprises me as well as learning that HEL is also the closest EU capital to Sydney, Australia. Who would have thought that just by looking at a regular Mercator projection map of the Earth?! And people still keep saying how Finland is so isolated and far away from everything

The 6800 miles distance flight from HEL to HNL would probably take about 13 to 14 hours so it would not be the easiest to fit into Finnair longhaul waves. Maybe a few times a week similar times ex-HEL as SIN-flight although local time in HNL makes arrival quite early?
HEL-HNL 23.55-4.00+1
HNL-HEL 8.00-7.00+1

HEL to SYD is close to 9500 miles distance meaning it would be the second longest flight in the world after SIN-EWR with flying time of about 18 hours. Unlikely i would say!

What about Link�ping LPI? It is only served by KLM nowadays. Wouldn't there be enough population in that area to maintain an succsesful feeder to Asia, and maybe even some European destinations. While KLM have the edge on any destination westbound I guess AY would be the first choice eastbound. Might be it is too close to ARN.. But with good connections it might not be.

QF flights direct to LHR from PER are doing very well, with people travelling to PER to join. Turns a trip with two long-haul international segments into a domestic plus single (very) long haul deal, and that's attractive to a lot of people. And getting to BNE or ADL is a lot less hassle for people in both MEL and SYD.

That said, it still sounds a big gamble. I know AY does very good business in Oz considering it doesn't fly here, but I wonder if a lot of that is older flyers who find their current J fares more than competitive.

Technically ECN is closer, but your point is valid and surprising.
Even connections via HEL would make a really short route to SYD for origins in northern EU, including LHR, AMS, BRU, BER and so on.

CZ please join OW, link up my CN domestic trips. Though nowadays i pretty much enjoy the high speed trains.

Good point. Seen from a Europeean perspective I guess SYD is the obvious choice (has any airline ever opened an Australia route and not started with SYD?) but with a AU perspective, doing a domestic leg first might not be such a bad deal.

But I guess LHR still has a special place in AU international routes, the bonds are strong and there is likely a lot of O/D demand.
A Finnair route would have to rely on connecting pax, and so a HEL-PER would quickly turn into a 3-segment trip for most people.

Having to go soon to Luxemburg, and that is very difficult! A direct route there would be nice.

No wonder they�re doing well, as there�s businetic demand both to ROI and TXL.