Finnish airline Finnair has applied for approval to operate routes of German company Eurowings Discover, a low-cost subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, in the United States. The request was made to the Department of Transportation (DOT), responsible for approving air carriers in the US.
The petition, presented on April 14th, details an agreement between the two airlines for the leasing of aircraft and crew. Finnair would provide its services for flights to three destinations starting on May 15th.
The requested routes are Frankfurt (FRA) – Las Vegas (LAS), Frankfurt (FRA) – Tampa (TPA) and Munich (MUC) – Las Vegas (LAS). If concluded, the wet-lease agreement would be beneficial for both companies. Wet leasing involves the operation of a route, the rights to which are owned and marketed by one airline, by another one, which uses its own aircraft and crews.
Eurowings Discover is the Lufthansa group’s subsidiary for the holiday travel market. It began operations in July 2021 and operates a fleet of Airbus A320, A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft. While it plans to add more aircraft in the coming years, its rapid growth explains the search for alternative options to meet its demand in the short term.
On the other hand, Finnair was particularly affected by the closure of Russian airspace. Its network of flights between Helsinki (HEL) and the Far East is virtually paralyzed. Its operations to Osaka (KIX), Sapporo (CTS), Nagoya (NGO) and Fukuoka (FUK) are momentarily suspended. As a result, part of its long-range fleet is under-utilized. In that sense, the agreement would provide additional revenue during the summer season, one of the busiest times of the year in terms of occupation.
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the most affected airport by the airspace closure, according to Eurocontrol. While all connections between Europe and Asia are affected by the measure, the further south and further away from the Russian border an airline’s home base is located, the lesser the impact.
See also: Finnair “hardest hit” European airline by airspace closures, says CEO
The flights will be marketed on a codeshare basis with Lufthansa (LH), Austrian Airlines (OS) and Swiss International Air Lines (LX). All three companies belong to the Lufthansa Group.
