Finnair and its partner operator, Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra), have marked 20 years of operating Embraer E-Jets in Europe. Finnair operated its first Embraer E170 revenue flight from Helsinki to Oslo on October 1, 2005, ushering in a new era of regional connectivity.
Since October 2012, Norra has flown the Embraer fleet on behalf of Finnair. Norra is owned 40% by Finnair and 60% by DAT, formerly known as Danish Air Transport.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary, executives from the airlines and Embraer gathered at Helsinki Airport for a celebratory event ahead of flight AY915, which retraced the first route, to Oslo. The flight was assigned a specially designated call-sign, ‘FIN20Y’.
Finnair began operating both E170s and E190s, but the last E170s were retired in 2016, and the fleet now consists of 12 of the longer-range E190s in a 100-seat configuration. (Norra also operates 12 ATR 72 turboprops.) The aircraft flies in Finnair colors.
A major development came in 2012 when Embraer operations were transferred from Finnair to Norra (then Flybe). Remarkably, 12 aircraft were flown to Helsinki and put into operation by the new operator overnight.
“For 20 years, the Embraer fleet has been essential to regional connectivity, feeding traffic into our Helsinki hub,” Finnair’s chief revenue officer, Christine Rovelli, said. “Operated by our partner Norra, the fleet continues to deliver excellent punctuality and reliability. We’re now renewing the cabins to further enhance the customer experience.”
“The E-Jets are the reliable backbone of our operations, enabling us to deliver efficient, high-quality regional service to Finnair’s customers,” Norra’s MD, Juha Ojala, said.
“This is a moment of high emotion and great pride for the Embraer team,” Embraer Commercial Aviation’s SVP sales & marketing, head of Europe & Central Asia, Marie-Louise Philippe, added.
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