Finnair CEO hails Finnish Sisu for airline’s ‘double crisis’ bounce back

It was perhaps no coincidence that the CEO of Finnair, Turkka Kuusisto, chose the four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to announce that the airline was “back to cruising altitude” following the shock of two existential crises.

On February 24, 2026, from the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia next to the forests of Nuuksio National Park, Kuusisto spoke at a press event, explaining how Finnair had finally recovered from the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian air space closure following the start of the war in Ukraine.

After President Vladamir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many western countries closed their airspace to Russian aircraft, and in retaliation Russia did the same.

Overnight, while still trying to brush off the damage caused by the global pandemic, Finnair’s competitive advantage of being the shortest route between Europe and Far East Asia had vanished.

“The closure of Russian air space really challenged our strategy, business model, and, of course, our employees,” said Kuusisto.

AeroTime / Ian MolyneauxHowever, Finnair had a secret weapon in its arsenal, hundreds of years in the making, to overcome the challenges thrust upon the airline: Finnish Sisu.

As Kuusisto explained, Sisu is not just “resilience or merely perseverance. It is a quiet strength you draw on when you believe you have reached your limit and then decide to further”.

“We are powered by Finnish Sisu that somehow describes the Finnish mentality and how Finland operates. Of course, we will fuel our aircraft with jet fuel, or sustainable aviation fuel, but there is always some Sisu in our tanks,” he added.

Kuusisto said it is this spirit or gutsiness all Finnish people hold that was key to navigating the turmoil of the past five years and continuing Finnair’s 103-year legacy.

“Today, I’m very happy to report that we have successfully rebalanced the network. Our long-haul operation is no longer balanced when it comes to the westbound and eastbound directions and is supported by connected, very reliable and efficient short haul network in the Nordics domestically and in Europe,” he proudly stated.

Kuusisto said that the past three fiscal years tell the same story with “solid profits” in 2023, 2024 and 2025, excluding the impact of industrial action last year.

Finding new routes to navigate around Russian air space is however understandably causing minor disruptions.

Some of Finnair’s routes are now 30 to 40% longer in terms of flight time and require more fuel, and some operations are now flown with four pilots instead of three.

“That is, of course, a cost issue, but I’m so happy that even though this longer flight times increased cost of operation, the Japanese market, has been especially a great success for us, and that tells something about the pricing power and the brand that we have between Europe and Japan,” said Kuusisto.

How Kuusisto and Finnair are overcoming the double crisis

According to Kuusisto, when he joined Finnair as CEO in January 2024, after leading Posti Group Corporation, he felt that it was “time to run a very traditional corporate strategy process”.

“The company and the management at the time just didn’t have the luxury of doing so, because they were in crisis and survival mode,” he said. “So therefore, we engaged into a very thorough and diligent process when it comes to crystallizing why do we exist, what is the greater purpose we serve and what are the strategic priorities and choices we want to make to continue this finance of performance.”

AeroTime / Ian MolyneauxKuusisto explained that at the time there were two “key design criteria”.

Firstly, that Finnair would create both shareholder and customer value even though Russian air space would remain closed indefinitely and secondly, that the airline puts all its “effort into developing Finnair as a standalone company”.

To remedy the double crisis, Finnair initiated a new network design and set upon understanding how the customer base has changed following the closure of Russian air space.

Finnair’s role of transferring passengers in Helsinki remained vitally important but the customer mix is now more balanced between transfer passengers and those who are flying out from Finland or to Finland.

“When we dig into our customer data, we see that the so-called core customers are becoming even more important for us. Those passengers who fly with us the most, be it Finnair Plus Platinum members Lumos or gold card members,” he explained.

In 2025, Finnair made a series of new network announcements for 2026 including the return of long-haul flights to Canada after 11-year absence, the strengthening of its Southern European network and the launch of flights to Melbourne, marking the airline’s first entry into the Australian market.

Currently, Finnair has 87 destinations in its European network, something the airline has worked to optimize following the double crisis.

“[The European network] is no longer a feeder for long haul operations to Far East Asia. On a standalone basis, we are providing our customers with reliable, high-quality service, and from the company’s point of view, improving profitability when it comes to our short haul operation,” said Kuusisto.

AeroTime / Ian MolyneauxFinnair has 12 destinations in Asia Pacific, so despite the Russian air space closure it remains hugely important.

In summer 2025, Finnair was the largest operator between Europe and Japan with 25 flights a week to four Japanese airports. This summer, there will be 28 weekly flights to Japan with an increase in operations to Osaka.

Depending on the season, Finnair also has seven destinations in North America, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Closer to home, Finnair is buoyed by the growing interest of travelers wishing to visit Finland, a country bestowed with the title of the world’s happiest place.

Figures by Business Finland and Visit Finland state that there are 7.2 million overnight stays in the country, marking a 12% year-on-year increase.

“I believe that there is still a lot of potential and big opportunity when it comes to also developing Finland as a destination, and that’s also something that we as a national flag carrier want to contribute to,” said Kuusisto.

Commenting on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), Kuusisto said that despite attempts to accelerate decarbonization and its commitment to net-zero by 2045, the “availability and affordability of SAF needs to be developed significantly”.

“We really need sustainable aviation fuel in the needed quantity, and at the needed price level, or cost level from our perspective. And also, there needs to be infrastructure-related developments to try these developments for the next decade,” he said

Finnair has also lent further into its incredible safety record after more than 60 years without a severe accident and is investing in modern retailing, so the airline can sell to customers during the flight, before the flight, and/or after the flight.

Future fleet renewal plans

While in 2025 Finnair had announced that it was considering an order for up to 30 narrowbody aircraft to replace older jets in its fleet, there have been no further developments at this time.

According to past media reports, Finnair is looking to retire 15 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft from service.

FINNAIR OH-LVC Airbus A319-112 Departure Roll With Manchester Airport Tower In The Background AY1362 To Helsinki HEL On 12/01/2026. pic.twitter.com/Wto6S1vza3— 23L AVIATION (@23LAviation) February 6, 2026 During the press event, Kuusisto said that he was “exploring all the avenues” including an order for new aircraft and new aircraft through lessors.

“We need to do a diligent search when it comes to understanding what so called midterm capacity solution could provide with us, and we are also evaluating different secondary markets,” he explained.

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