Aero Airlines acquires new aircraft and routes

As a result of Estonia's EU accession, Finnair's Estonian subsidiary Aero Airlines is to double the number of its flights within Finland as of June. The goal is to improve the profitability while ensuring the continuity of service on Finnish domestic routes within the Group in accordance with the previously agreed operational programme of which a division of labour between Aero and the parent company make a part.

"Estonia's entry into the EU family creates new opportunities for expanding Aero's operations on internal routes within the Baltic States, as thanks to Aero, Finnair already has a foothold in Estonia. It is not, however, possible to operate routes within the Baltic countries at Finnair's cost level," says Finnair COO Henrik Arle.

As of the beginning of June, thanks to a service agreement with the parent company, Aero will operate approximately 40 Finnair flights per day on short routes in mostly southern Finland with four ATR-72 aircraft. Up till now, Aero has operated 22 weekly flights from Helsinki to Jyväskylä, Mariehamn, Kuopio, and Vaasa. New destinations include Tampere, Turku, Joensuu and Kokkola/Pietarsaari.

Aero will receive its next two ATR aircraft at the end of August and then its flight schedule and fleet of six aircraft will cover almost all current Finnish ATR destinations. The remaining three ATRs will be transferred from Finnair to Aero livery by the end of the year.

"Aero specialises in operating shorter routes without compromising in service quality. Aero's Finnish and Estonian flight attendants have the same entrance criteria and training as Finnair staff. On domestic routes in Finland the flight attendants speak Finnish, Swedish and English. At this point, most Aero pilots are Finnair pilots and in the future they will continue to be selected and trained using Finnair standards," says Aero Managing Director Tommi Aaltonen.