Finnair bets on Thailand in winter, there will also be Canary Islands and southern Spain

Airbus A350 in the colors of Finnair

Finnair is betting on Thailand ? Is it the right move? Phuket gets another carrier, will the island be a winter refuge from Covid?

Finnair is another airline that has announced its winter route network for the 2021/2 season. Like its other competitors, it puts a decidedly stronger emphasis on holiday destinations. Thailand’s main winner.

Finnair will fly to three airports in Thailand

Finnair’s winter schedule calls for operating to 70 destinations. Selected destinations to respond to soaring holiday demand. The airline wants to operate it on a scheduled basis.

The main long-range winner seems to be Thailand. Finnair plans flights to Krabi, Bangkok and Phuket. The latter destination seems to be the preferred choice of many airlines, including smaller ones. Phuket is already being flown to m.in. Aeroflot and Turkish. Increased competition forces traditional players to cut prices. Bay Lines offers tickets to this destination for prices barely exceeding 2000 PLN. Finniar’s new flights will further strengthen competition in this direction.

In addition to Thailand, other warm destinations are emerging, mainly those in the US. The Finnish airline will fly three times a week to Miami and Los Angeles. These directions can also be quite tight.

The list of warm destinations is supplemented by Spain’s Malaga and Alicante, the line will also operate to the Canary Islands.

Still a lot of uncertainty – further adjustments possible

In announcing the network, the airline pointed out the high uncertainty related primarily to the dynamic pandemic situation. Further adjustments to already announced destinations are not ruled out.

However, it seems that the backbone of the network has been outlined, a strong bet on Thailand is a clear signal of where the line sees its niche. By the way, from September the frequencies of Scandinavian destinations will increase m.in. Oslo and Copenhagen. It is apparent that the line wants to bring passengers on its long haul flights from all over Scandinavia.

Niš is also looking for closer destinations, in September we will fly to charming Lapland. This region is attracting more and more tourists who want to get in touch with nature.

Ryan enters with low-cost flights from Poland to Finland

Finnair’s stronger return to the Polish market may be hampered, as a result of recent moves by low-cost market leader Ryanair, which has just announced the launch of direct flights from Poland to Finland. Connections with the Finnish capital will get Modlin and Poznan.

Such a move by Ryan could be trouble for Finnair in Poland in the future. It also has other consequences, the airline may have to fight harder for low-cost transit passengers. We can count on better prices ? Such a scenario is not excluded.

In the face of Pandemic, the airline also closed its Polish sales office, the lack of commercial activities in our country does not make it easier to rebuild its position in the corporate and vacation market. The Finns are probably hoping to follow in the footsteps of SAS, which made a similar move a few years ago.

We are waiting for the first price offers for flights to Thailand and Usa, perhaps Finnair will positively surprise us. Another airline has revealed the cards as to its winter network, we are still waiting for such a move from LOT. The clock is ticking and regular exotic destinations for winter are still missing.