Oct 14, 2026 · 29 min · 14 segments
Finnair CEO Turkka Kuusisto tells us how the flag carrier is weathering geopolitical turbulence and continuing its ascent. Plus: how Finnish innovator Solar Foods created a truly sustainable protein…
Turkka KuusistoGuestTom EdwardsHostPetri Bursov
I'm the CEO of Finnair, and I've been in this role now for almost two and a half years.
Now a flight to Tokyo takes 14 hours instead of nine, just to give one example.
The Finnair team at the time has done very good job in terms of, uh, rebalancing and, uh, redirecting the network.
We as, as you mentioned, we are now flying much more to North America, which has been a, a great case for us.
That was bit of a tactical collaboration with Qatar Airways at the time where, where, when different companies were recovering from a pandemic, and we were capable of providing them with the capacity that we couldn't use 'cause of the range limitation.
A330s are not capable of, uh, circumnavigating the Russian airspace, so it was a tactical vehicle at the time.
But when I n- now look into our long-haul network, we are much more balanced when it comes to westbound and eastbound traffic.
You know, Finnair is, is one of the last that are not part of a bigger group.
When we redefined Finnair's strategic direction and strategic agenda 2025, we had two guiding principles.
Having said this, it's important to address that the partnerships and alliances are super important for us.
I'm the CEO of Finnair, and I've been in this role now for almost two and a half years.
Now a flight to Tokyo takes 14 hours instead of nine, just to give one example.
The Finnair team at the time has done very good job in terms of, uh, rebalancing and, uh, redirecting the network.
We as, as you mentioned, we are now flying much more to North America, which has been a, a great case for us.
That was bit of a tactical collaboration with Qatar Airways at the time where, where, when different companies were recovering from a pandemic, and we were capable of providing them with the capacity that we couldn't use 'cause of the range limitation.
A330s are not capable of, uh, circumnavigating the Russian airspace, so it was a tactical vehicle at the time.
But when I n- now look into our long-haul network, we are much more balanced when it comes to westbound and eastbound traffic.
You know, Finnair is, is one of the last that are not part of a bigger group.
When we redefined Finnair's strategic direction and strategic agenda 2025, we had two guiding principles.
Having said this, it's important to address that the partnerships and alliances are super important for us.
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