Finland’s national airline Finnair has raised €501 million in a share offering that was so popular, it was oversubscribed by 11%.
The fundraising effort was indented to boost Finnair’s financial position and the company, which is more than 55% owned by the state, received subscriptions for 1.416 billion shares at €0.40 per share.
“My warmest thanks to all Finnair’s old and new shareholders who participated in the rights offering” says Finnair CEO Topi Manner.
“With this successful share issue, we strengthen our equity, which helps to reach our goal of sustainable, profitable growth” he adds.
New hygiene kits for passengers as flights expand
Meanwhile the airline has begun handing out ‘clean kits‘ for passengers as it starts to expand its flight offerings to around 30% of the pre-coronavirus crisis schedule.
Each kit comes with hand sanitizer, surface wipes, an information leaflet and is packaged within a case that functions as a waste container.
This kit will be distributed in addition to an intensified cleaning regime on board the aircraft; as the airline also opens lounges - with social distancing restrictions - and returns in-flight catering to near-normal levels.
“Travelling can feel different than before, with changes in services and new types of
procedures in place, such as the mandatory use of a mask on our flights ” explains Karim Al-Soufi, Finnair’s Vice President of Customer Experience.
“However, we are delighted to be able to bring back familiar elements of our valued customer service while still taking good care of the hygiene and safety of our customers and staff” he says.
New products, Finnish designs
The new passenger hygiene is made with sustainable Finnish forestry fibers, while the hand sanitizer is supplied by Kyrö Distillery, well-known for its gin.
All passengers and crew members will still have to wear masks throughout the complete
flight, except when they’re eating, and are being advised to bring their own masks with them.
In exceptional cases, planes have a limited supply on board which can be supplied if necessary. All the Finnair face masks have been made in Finland.
Expanding flight schedules
Most of the flights being added back to the Finnair schedule during July are to European destinations.
The airline will fly twice daily from Helsinki to London, Paris and Amsterdam; while major cities across the Nordic region, Germany and Switzerland will have 5-7 services each week.
Other Europe routes starting include Edinburgh, Riga, Vilnius, Vienna, Manchester and
Malaga; while flights to Barcelona, Milan, Madrid, Rome and Warsaw will begin in August.
“We at Finnair start ramping up our operations, adding some 40 destinations in July. From 13th of July onwards travel restrictions are expected to be lifted further, to many European countries” writes CEO Topi Manner.
Long-haul services were re-introduced to a number of Asian destinations from 1st July, but not yet to China.
Finnair’s travel planning still takes into account any possible changes in travel restrictions which could mean some services get suspended if a particular country re-introduces coronavirus lockdown measures.
