Finnair wet leases an Airbus A330 from Air Italy for its Chicago and Miami routes for the rest of October

Finnair will wet lease an Airbus A330 aircraft and crew from Air Italy for its Chicago and Miami routes for the period of October 12-31. One of Finnair’s long-haul aircraft was damaged at Chicago airport on September 25 when a high loader accidentally hit it. With the wet lease from Air Italy, Finnair ensures that flights to Chicago and Miami can be operated normally while the damaged aircraft is being repaired.

"The aircraft damage in Chicago was very unfortunate. With high-quality wet lease from Air Italy, we can continue operating our Chicago and Miami flights and offer our customers a smooth travel experience regardless of the aircraft change," says Jaakko Schildt, Chief Operating Officer, Finnair.

Air Italy aircraft and crew will be operating Finnair flights to Chicago and Miami as follows:

• All flights between Helsinki and Chicago (AY09/AY10) from Oct 12 to Oct 29. Finnair has four weekly return flights between Helsinki and Chicago, the flight days are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
• Five return flights between Helsinki and Miami (AY07/AY08) on the following dates: Oct 14, Oct 16, Oct 21, Oct 23 and Oct 30.

The wet leased aircraft from Air Italy has 24 full-flat seats in business class and 232 seats in economy class, all with a seat-back inflight entertainment system. With the wet lease, the cockpit and cabin crew come from Air Italy, and the flights will have two Finnair cabin crew members on board to support the delivery of Finnair's customer service concept.

Finnair contacts customers with bookings on the flights to be operated with the wet leased aircraft directly to inform them of the change in carrier. Customers can cancel their flight or change the departure date due to the change in carrier. Cancellations or changes can be made by contacting Finnair customer service.

Further information:
Finnair Media Desk, +358 9 818 4020, comms(a)finnair.com 
www.finnair.com, www.company.finnair.com 
www.twitter.com/Finnair
www.facebook.com/finnair
www.instagram.com/feelfinnair
www.youtube.com/finnair
Images: gallery.finnair.com  
Finnair blog: www.bluewings.finnair.com

About Finnair
Finnair flies between Asia, Europe and North America with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki, carrying more than ten million passengers annually. Finnair's extensive network connects 19 cities in Asia and 8 cities in North America with over 100 destinations in Europe. The airline, a pioneer in sustainable flying, was the first European airline to fly the next-generation, eco-smart Airbus A350 XWB aircraft and it is the first airline listed in the Leadership Index of the worldwide Carbon Disclosure Project. The only Nordic carrier with a 4-star Skytrax ranking, Finnair has also won the World Airline Award for Best Airline Northern Europe for the past nine years running. Finnair is a member of oneworld, the alliance of the world's leading airlines committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience to frequent international travellers.