Finnair and Qatar Airways have announced a new strategic partnership to open up new routes between Nordic capital cities and the Qatari capital Doha.
Finnair has been looking for new commercially-viable routes following the closure of Russian airspace which cut off its Asian connections via a northern route. The new partnership is a major step in re-establishing the commercially lucrative channel via a new route.
Finnair said it would build “a long-term strategic cooperation” on flights between Doha and Helsinki in Finland, Stockholm in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark starting towards the end of the year, while exploring the possibility of expanding the agreement to another unnamed European destination.
“These services will be supported by a comprehensive codeshare agreement with shared passenger and cargo capacity between both airlines,” Finnair said.
Finnair and Qatar Airways are part of the oneworld global airline alliance.
Finnair also said in a separate release that it would downscale its traffic plans for the winter season, with all flights to Krabi and Chicago canceled while flights from Stockholm to several other destinations in the US and Thailand will also be halted.
“Our aim is to operate a traffic plan that is as economically viable as possible,” Finnair said.