Finnair wet leases A320 from DAT as summer travel picks up

Finnair is wet leasing an Airbus A320 for its summer operations to meet an expected increase in demand.  

The Finnish airline said on May 24, 2022, that the aircraft and crew are being leased from Danish firm DAT and will operate from June to October. In June, the aircraft and crew will operate between Helsinki (HEL) and Copenhagen (CPH) and between HEL and Oulu, Finland (OUL) and Lisbon (LIS) from July to October.  

“We are preparing for a busy summer season, and this agreement with DAT supports our target of ensuring stable and reliable operations as travel is now picking up”, says Ole Orvér, Chief Commercial Officer, Finnair.   

Airlines, airports and other aviation services across the world have been struggling to keep pace with the sharp pick-up in demand for travel now that COVID-19 restrictions have eased.  

Along with ACMI services, DAT also operates regional routes in Denmark, Norway, Italy, Germany and Finland.  

The decision comes after Finnair earlier said it was leasing out some of its own aircraft and crew to other European carriers.  

Finnair, whose business model sees its link Asia and European destinations via its hub in HEL, has been hit hard by the closure of Russia airspace and has shifted its network more to the west as a result.  

During a first quarter results presentation on April 27, 2022, Finnair said it was leasing aircraft with crew to British Airways and Lufthansa Group, thus providing work for 600 Finnair employees for the summer. 

“This generates income for us and provides work for a significant number of pilots, cabin crew, and technical staff,” the company explained in the Q1 report.  “Thanks to these arrangements, we are able to avoid laying off Finland-based employees during the summer.” 

At the time it said it would “evaluate both additional wet lease opportunities as well as the potential sale of individual aircraft”.  

The carrier completed the sale of two Airbus A321 aircraft during the first quarter and has since sold two more A321 aircraft.