Finnair and Shanghai-based Juneyao Air will enter joint business partnership from July 1st, 2021. The carriers will launch commercial cooperation on flights between Helsinki and Shanghai and to onward points in China and Europe.
On Wednesday (June 23, 2021), Finnair announced the launch of a joint commercial partnership with Shanghai, China-based Juneyao Air from July 1st, 2021. The airlines will cooperate commercially on flights between Helsinki and Shanghai, as well as further points in China and Europe. The new joint business agreement deepens the carriers’ existing partnership and provides more flexible routing options and enhanced benefits for frequent flyer members. Finnair and Juneyao Air customers will also benefit from aligned baggage allowances, integrated customer care and mutual frequent flyer point accrual.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Finnair’s Chief Executive Officer, Topi Manner, said,
“Finnair is all about offering the best connections between Europe and Asia. This is a true win-win partnership, which will enable Finnair and Juneyao customers to enjoy vastly improved access to our joint network. It is also testament to Finnair’s steadfast commitment to China as a strategic market. We look forward to working closely with our friends at Juneyao, to build an even stronger bridge between China and Europe through our Shanghai and Helsinki hubs.”
Further commenting on the joint business partnership, Juneyao Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Zhao Hongliang, stated,
“We are honored to formalize this strategic partnership with Finnair to offer our customers a wider range of products and quality services, provide more flexible flight choices, and seamless travel experiences. The joint business with Finnair will allow Juneyao Air to further strengthen its market in Europe, which is an important strategy in our global expansion as it significantly increases Juneyao Air’s presence in an aviation market set to become the ‘high-value carrier’.”
Under the partnership, Finnair guests will benefit from improved connectivity to 57 destinations in China via Juneyao Air’s Shanghai Pudong hub, while Juneyao customers will enjoy seamless connectivity across 65 European Finnair network destinations via the airline’s Helsinki hub. Currently, Finnair and Juneyao Air operate two weekly flights between Helsinki and Shanghai, with plans to increase frequencies as the pandemic subsides. In 2019, both airlines operated daily flights on the route.
Juneyao Air launched their Shanghai-Helsinki route in July 2019, and since then, both airlines have codeshared on each other’s Helsinki-Shanghai flights, as well on select connection flights in China and Europe. In August 2019, Finnair and Juneyao Air also launched a reciprocal frequent flyer agreement, allowing mutual earning and redemption of points and miles throughout each partner’s network.
Juneyao Air was founded in 2006 and is one of China’s leading privately-owned airlines, as well as the Star Alliance’s Connecting Partner. As of May 2021, the airline serves nearly 200 destinations across Asia and Europe with a modern fleet of 80 aircraft including Airbus A320s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners. In 2019, Juneyao Air received an award from Skytrax for ‘Best Regional Airlines in China.’
Specializing in passenger and cargo traffic between Asia and Europe, Finnair is a modern premium network airline with a competitive advantage due to their geographical location. Sustainability is at the heart of everything Finnair does, and the carrier is committed to cutting their net emissions by 50 percent by the end of 2025 (compared to a 2019 baseline) and achieving carbon neutrality by the end of 2045. The carrier is also a member of the global oneworld® alliance and its shares are traded on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange.
Source: Finnair