Nordic flag carrier, Finnair is to extend its new winter route to Miami into the summer schedule in 2016 after seeing a strong demand for the new route from Helsinki since it was reintroduced last winter. The European carrier confirms it will offer a three times weekly service on the Helsinki – Miami route during the summer 2016 schedule from March to October 2016.

Finnair resumed non-stop scheduled services between its Helsinki hub and the US city of Miami in December 2014, introducing a three times weekly operation using an Airbus A340 from December 16, 2014 until March 21, 2015 and will resume the route later this year.

The oneworld alliance member previously 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 in the interim period Finnair retained a presence to the Florida market through partner airlines.

"We are excited about extending our Miami route to cover the whole season," said Juha Järvinen, chief commercial officer, Finnair. "The Miami route has proven to be popular both for our Northern European customers as well as for Miami based customers, for whom we offer excellent connections to Scandinavia via Helsinki.

“The new schedule will also enable excellent connections from Miami to our Asian destinations. Our oneworld partner, American Airlines, has a large hub in Miami, which enables good connections further to the Caribbean, Central and South America," he added.

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.

Our analysis of Sabre Airport Data Intelligence demand statistics shows how Finnair has stimulated demand in the Helsinki – Miami market since it resumed flights last year. The chart shows that demand on the city pair has remained strong, even rising, since Finnair closed its non-stop service in the last decade. In 2014 Finnair had a 26.5 per cent share of this demand via its own and flights of its partner airlines: American Airlines dominated with a 29.2 per cent share of the traffic.

Alongside the new summer operation to Miami, Finnair has confirmed it will also boost its flights to Chicago, increasing its weekly flights from Helsinki from three in summer 2015 to a planned five in summer 2016. This will further improve connectivity beyond Chicago to American Airlines' extensive network in the Americas. This five-weekly service connects well also to Finnair’s Asian network beyond Helsinki.

In addition to Miami and Chicago, Finnair also operates daily to New York JFK and, together with its joint business partners, offers over 120 daily departures over the Atlantic. The joint business between the cooperating airlines also gives customers the possibility to mix and match flights on different carriers and connecting cities for the best pricing and scheduling.