Finnair to Wet Lease a Hi Fly A340 for Pilot Training

Photo: planespotters.net

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Finnair will wet lease one Airbus A340 from Portuguese aircraft-crew-maintenance-insurance (ACMI) specialist Hi Fly for two months to accommodate pilot trainings to secure the airline’s growing operations in summer 2017 and beyond.

“Pilot trainings are a part of our preparations for growth. This wet lease is a part of our efforts to ensure punctual operations during the next months, when a large share of Finnair pilots are tied up in A350 XWB-related trainings,” Finnair COO Jaakko Schildt said in a statement.

The Finland flag carrier will continue to receive new Airbus A350 aircraft in 2017, and is currently undertaking a massive pilot training program to train its A330 pilots for A350 operations.

Finnair took delivery of its first A350 a year ago and now has seven of the type in its fleet. It expects to receive four A350-900s in 2017. By the end of 2023, it will have 19 A350s.

The Hi Fly A340 will operate on the oneworld member daily Helsinki-New York JFK route between Nov. 3 and Jan. 8, 2017. Cockpit and cabin crew provided from Hi Fly, but two Finnair crew members on board support the delivery of Finnair’s customer service concept.

The wet-leased aircraft has 24 full-flat seats in business class, and 271 seats in economy class, all with seat-back inflight entertainment.

Source: atwonline.com