Finnair retires last MD11
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After almost 20 years of service with Finnair, the Boeing MD11 fleet enters history on February 22 when the last flight using this aircraft type – flight AY022 from Delhi to Helsinki – takes to the air. After this date, all Finnair long haul flights will be operated using state-of-the-art, fuel-efficient Airbus A340 and A330 aircraft, ‘cousins’ of the Airbus A320 planes that comprise the European fleet. This will also mean that Finnair flies one of the world’s youngest aircraft fleets, with an average age of under six years.
Finnair’s fleet renewal programme passes a significant milestone with the withdrawal from service of the last Boeing MD11 aircraft next week. The change represents significant improvements in profitability and environmental sustainability. The new Airbus aircraft serving Finnair’s intercontinental routes consume 20 per cent less fuel than their predecessors.
The first of four MD-11 passenger aircraft ordered by Finnair arrived in Helsinki on 7 December 1990 and began flying five times per week to the Canary Islands. The first flight, to Tenerife, was on 20 December 1990. An MD-11 service to New York began on 9 May 1992.
Meanwhile, the sixth new Airbus A330-300 aircraft arrived in Finland last Thursday, departing for its inaugural flight to Bangkok on February 18. This is the second A330 in the fleet to have been fitted with the new lie-flat – 100 per cent flat – seating in Business Class. This aircraft and the next two planes to arrive will have a Business Class cabin containing 32 seats and 265 seats in Economy, a more spacious configuration than the previous five aircraft to have been delivered. The next deliveries will be at the end of March and in November.
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