Finnair aiplane. Source: Finnair Following the extraordinary shutdown of its fleet, Finnair is preparing for a full return to operations.
The Finnish airline announced that the eight Airbus A321 aircraft grounded due to a safety issue are expected to return to service by the end of October, with six already expected to resume operations within a week.
As a reminder, the planes were grounded last week following an announcement from the manufacturer that the cleaning of the seat upholstery was carried out in a manner that was not verified in terms of fire resistance and contrary to guidelines, a move that has since led to the cancellation of about 70 flights and the impact on about 11,000 passengers.
Now, Finnair is updating that approximately 1,700 new upholsteries are being installed on the aircraft. This decision was made after it was determined that the original upholstery did not meet fire standards following the exceptional incident that led to a failure to meet critical safety requirements.
In addition to replacing the upholstery, the airline that connects Europe, Asia, and North America via Helsinki Airport has leased two additional aircraft with foreign crews to support its continued operations until the full return of the fleet at the end of the month. However, there may still be spot cancellations, changes in the flight operator, and even overbooking cases in the coming week. Affected passengers will receive a direct notification from the company.
"We deeply regret the inconvenience and disruption caused to our customers," said Pika Koronen, Vice President of Technical Operations at Finnair, adding that flight safety "is the foundation of everything" that the company does.
"As soon as we received the information that the effect of the washing process on the fire resistance of the upholstery had not been verified, it was clear to us that the aircraft would have to remain grounded until the problem was resolved."