Finnair and Shanghai-based Juneyao Air have signed a Letter of Intent to deepen their cooperation between China and Europe subject to required regulatory approvals.
The aim is to establish a joint venture on the Helsinki – Shanghai route enabling Finnair and Juneyao Air to offer their corporate and leisure customers a seamless travel experience through a wider choice of destination, schedule and fare options via their main hubs, Helsinki Airport (HEL) and Pudong International Airport (PVG).
“Despite these immensely challenging times for our industry, we at Finnair remain steadfast in our belief and commitment to China as a key market and to Juneyao Air as a key partner. Over the last year we have built up a close and mutually beneficial partnership with Juneyao Air. Taking the important step to evolve this into a deeper cooperation focused on our Shanghai and Helsinki hubs will allow us to not only serve our current customers even better, but also to lay a platform for further growth in the future, once the aviation market starts to normalise”, says Ole Orver, Chief Commercial Officer at Finnair.
“The aviation industry has encountered tough situations. Nevertheless, we consistently and optimistically trust in our emphasized China-Europe market and partnership with Finnair. We have been in comprehensive cooperation with Finnair and have obtained a mutually trustworthy and beneficial partnership with shared visions and values. Expanding the partnership enables us to accelerate further development and to serve passengers better with diversified choices and broadened network coverage.”, says Mr Yu Chengji, Executive Vice President of Juneyao Air.
Juneyao Air launched its route from Shanghai to Helsinki in July 2019, and since then both Finnair and Juneyao Air have been code sharing on each other´s Helsinki-Shanghai routes and on selected routes from Helsinki to Europe and from Shanghai to other destinations in China. A reciprocal agreement for Finnair Plus and Juneyao Air Club member was also implemented in August 2019, allowing customers to earn and redeem miles and points throughout each partner’s entire network.
Once implemented, the joint venture cooperation will enable significant further expansion of codesharing across the networks of both partners, particularly to key points behind Shanghai Pudong and Helsinki, as well as the introduction of enhanced benefits for frequent travelers.