Finnair has laid out its plans for the next two years, and there's plenty in them for anyone flying between Europe, Asia and North America. In a conversation with Global Traveler, CEO Turkka Kuusisto and communications chief Päivyt Tallqvist ran through route changes, new aircraft and a revamped flagship cabin.
The big route news: Middle East flying is off the table for now. Services from Helsinki to Doha and Dubai are suspended through the rest of 2026 and the 2027 winter season, with fuel-price volatility and regional instability cited. It's less painful than it sounds — those routes averaged just 3 percent of capacity — and the slots have been redirected to European cities such as Munich and Amsterdam. Finnair says it wants to return to both Gulf cities when safety allows.
Elsewhere, the network is growing. The Helsinki hub had a strong summer, with over 100 weekly frequencies to Sweden and more than 80 to Norway, and the airline has noticed a shift: more Europeans heading north to the Nordics and Scandinavia instead of the overheating Mediterranean. Japan demand is robust too, with up to 28 weekly flights, even as Chinese competitors shave hours off the same routes by crossing Russian airspace — Finnair is countering with premium products and schedules built around the longer flight times.
North America and the Asia-Pacific get the biggest boosts. The summer 2027 season starts earlier than usual, with seasonal Helsinki flights to Seattle and Chicago launching at the beginning of April rather than May. From October 25, Finnair will fly daily between Helsinki and Melbourne via Bangkok — its first Australian service. Kuusisto also flagged an interesting trend: North American and Asian travellers using Helsinki as a springboard to Iceland, Lapland and Tallinn, and hinted that a proper stopover programme for Finland could be on the way.
Fleet and cabin updates round things out. The final Airbus A350-900 arrives this November with a full cabin refresh across all three classes — business class gets the AirLounge Suite, a wide fixed-shell seat that converts to a lie-flat bed via a motorised panel. New Embraer E195-E2s start arriving in autumn 2027 for the short-haul fleet. The airline also says it plans to do more with Finnair Plus, its loyalty programme.
For travellers, the takeaways are simple: more ways to reach Finland and onward to Asia via Helsinki, earlier summer transatlantic options from 2027, and a notably nicer long-haul business cabin to do it in. Anyone with a Doha or Dubai booking on Finnair should rebook via the airline or switch carriers for those winter seasons. Source: Global Traveler.
