Ville Iho leaves Finnair

Finnair Plc     Stock Exchange Release     31 October 2016 at 13.00 EET

Ville Iho, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Resource Management and a member of Finnair’s Executive Board will leave the company as of December 31, 2016. Mr Iho, who also serves as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Finnair, has had a long career in different leadership positions at Finnair. He joined Finnair in 1998 and has served in the Finnair Executive Board since 2009.

“Ville Iho has played a central role in the transformation of our company over the past years,” says Pekka Vauramo, CEO, Finnair. “After difficult periods of disruption and cost savings, Finnair is now implementing a growth strategy and Ville has played a significant role in this process. His industry and process knowledge has been indispensable during these years of disruption in the industry. I wish Ville the best of success in the next phase of his career, and want to extend my warm thanks to him for all the work he has done for Finnair over the years.”

“My eighteen years at Finnair have been intensive; the industry and Finnair have completely changed, says Ville Iho. “Through this transformation, Finnair has emerged from difficult times to a stage of growth. I feel that this is exactly the right time in my career to seek new challenges, where I can combine the knowledge I have gained and most of all, learn something new.–“This is also the best possible time for a change at Finnair; we have completed our transformation and laid a strong foundation for the company's strategic agenda. The years of disruption in global aviation business and taking part in that change have taught me a lot. I have gained valuable experience of industry disruption and of driving change, and most of all, of result-oriented team work even in difficult times. Over the years, Finnair has raised a very capable team who now takes the company strategy forward with a strong drive. Even if I am leaving Finnair, I will continue to follow the development and growth of the company closely. I wish all the success for Finnair and the entire Finnair team for their growth ahead. I would also like to sincerely thank everyone at Finnair for all the years spent together.”

The strategy and resource management unit headed by Iho will temporarily report to Finnair’s CEO, Pekka Vauramo, as of November 1, 2016.

Further information:
Finnair communications, tel. +358 9 818 4020, comms(a)finnair.com

Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki
Principal media

Finnair is a network airline specialising in passenger and cargo traffic between Asia and Europe. Helsinki’s geographical location gives Finnair a competitive advantage, since the fastest connections between many European destinations and Asian megacities fly over Finland. Finnair’s vision is to offer its passengers a unique Nordic experience, and its mission is to offer the smoothest, fastest connections in the northern hemisphere via Helsinki and the best network to the world from its home markets. Finnair is the only Nordic carrier with a 4-star Skytrax ranking and a member of the oneworld alliance. In 2015, Finnair’s revenues amounted to EUR 2,255 million and it had a personnel of 4,800 at the year-end. Finnair Plc’s shares are quoted on Nasdaq Helsinki.