Finnair strengthens customer and revenue focus with Executive Board appointments

Finnair Plc            Stock Exchange Release         10 September 2024 at 9:30 a.m. EEST

Finnair has appointed Simon Large (BA) as Chief Customer Officer as of 1 October 2024 and Christine Rovelli (MBA) as Chief Revenue Officer as of 10 September 2024. Finnair’s current Chief Commercial Officer Ole Orvér will leave his position in Finnair Executive Board and work as executive advisor at Finnair until 31 December 2024.

Simon Large will head Finnair’s new Customer Experience, Loyalty and Marketing Unit and be responsible for driving Finnair’s product offering, marketing and brand, global sales, and a part of customer service functions, as well as Finnair’s Aurinkomatkat package tour business.

Christine Rovelli will head a new Network, Fleet and Sustainability unit, comprising fleet, network, revenue management, alliances and airline partnerships functions, and sustainability.

“Finnair has emerged from the double crisis as a strong airline, and a strengthened focus on customers and revenue will serve us well as we move to the next phase in Finnair’s 100-year-old history”, says Turkka Kuusisto, Finnair CEO. “I warmly welcome Simon to his new role in the Finnair family and wish him and Christine the best of success in their new roles. With a laser focus on understanding and responding to customer needs, and on using our revenue generation assets in an optimal way in every situation, we will support enhanced value creation both to our customers and to our shareholders.”

“I also want to thank Ole Orvér for his dedicated work to drive our commercial offering through the past few years that have been marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of the Russian airspace and wish all the best for him in his next endeavors”, says Turkka Kuusisto.

Finnair has also appointed Jaakko Schildt, Chief Operating Officer as Deputy to the CEO (Chief Executive Officer), and Chief Information Officer Antti Kleemola as Chief Digital Officer. Finnair’s Strategy function will move under the responsibility of Chief Financial Officer Kristian Pullola. These appointments come into force as of 10 September 2024, further strengthening the roles of the management team in implementing Finnair’s strategy.  

Christine Rovelli currently serves as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Fleet at Finnair, and has worked in senior leadership roles at Finnair since 2012, and prior to that, had a career in investment banking. Simon Large has been a Finnair Board of Directors member since 2022 and before that, served in senior leadership roles in Cathay Pacific. He resigns from his position at the Finnair Board on 30 September 2024.

FINNAIR PLC

Further information:
Finnair communications, 358 9 818 4020, comms@finnair.com

Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
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Finnair is a network airline, specialising in connecting passenger and cargo traffic between Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe. Finnair is the only airline with year-round direct flights to Lapland. Customers have chosen Finnair as the Best Airline in Northern Europe in the Skytrax Awards for 14 times in a row. Finnair is a member of the oneworld alliance. Finnair Plc’s shares are quoted on Nasdaq Helsinki.