Finnair will next winter resume non-stop scheduled services between its Helsinki hub and the US city of Miami. The new seasonal flight, operated with Airbus A340 aircraft in a two-class Business and Economy cabin configuration, will commence from December 16, 2014 until March 21, 2015 and will initially operate on a twice weekly basis, increasing to three times weekly from January 3, 2015.

The Nordic carrier last served this market ten years ago during the winter 2004/2005 season with flights between December 2004 and April 2005. This schedule was operated on an up to three times weekly basis using a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, but Finnair has retained a presence to the Florida market through its partner airlines.

“Services to Miami with codeshare partners have always been popular, and the time is now right to offer a direct non-stop route in the winter season in addition to these services,” said Pekka Vauramo, chief executive officer, Finnair.

Miami, with a population of more than 400,000 in a metro area of more than five million, is at the centre of the largest urban area in the southeastern United States. The region is famous for its beaches and leisure activities, as well as its top-tier entertainment, sporting and cultural attractions. Miami is also a major commercial and financial centre in the United States and widely seen as an economic and cultural gateway between North and South America.

“Finns love Miami and southern Florida, and there is a sizeable Finnish expatriate community in the region. At the same time, this new direct route also gives us the opportunity to develop Finland and Lapland as exotic winter tourism destinations for Americans,” added Vauramo.

The route between Helsinki and Miami International Airport will be included in the joint business arrangement on transatlantic traffic with oneworld alliance partners American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia. This gives customers the possibility to mix and match flights on the different carriers for the best pricing and scheduling.

According to MIDT data, an estimated 40,000 bi-directional O&D passengers flew between Helsinki and Miami in 2013. In the analysis below we look at O&D demand between the two cities over the past 12 years. This shows that demand on the city pair has remained strong, even rising, since Finnair closed its non-stop service in the last decade. Finnair currently has a 20.9 per cent share of this demand via the flights of its partner airlines: American Airlines dominates with a 30.7 per cent share of the traffic.