Summary
- Turkka Kuusisto was appointed as the brand new CEO of Finnair, replacing the outgoing Topi Manner.
- Finnair has restored profitability after facing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s airspace closure.
- Kuusisto said he was excited to tackle the role and expects a successful journey ahead.
Turkka Kuusisto is ready to develop into the brand new chief executive officer (CEO) of Finnair, because the airline outlined that Kuusisto will replace the outgoing Topi Manner. The brand new executive is scheduled to begin his job on the Finnish airline’s helm on July 11, 2024, at the most recent. Jaakko Schildt, the present chief operating officer (COO), might be the interim CEO between January 15, 2024, when Manner is ready to go away Finnair and Kuusisto’s starting date.
Kuusisto’s experience
Sanna Suvanto-Harsaae, the Chair of the Board of Directors of Finnair, said she was comfortable to welcome Kuusisto to steer the airline in the subsequent phases of its strategy. Suvanto-Harsaae added.
Finnair announced that Manner, the present CEO of the airline, will leave the corporate on August 18, 2023. On the time, the carrier didn’t disclose Manner’s last day because the CEO but detailed that he can be joining Elisa Corporation as its latest CEO on March 1, 2024, at the most recent. Suvanto-Harsaae said on the time. Meanwhile, Manner, who has led the airline since January 2019, said that his time at Finnair adding that this has been the final word stress test for the airline and its employees. Still, he was
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Kuusisto has no leadership experience within the aviation industry, with the Finnish executive joining Finnair from Posti Group Corporation, Finland’s postal service. His experience also includes leadership roles at Posti Group Corporation and Lindorff Group, a full-service credit management service provider. Nonetheless, before joining Finnair, Manner had no experience within the aviation industry either.
Kuusisto stated, adding that he expects a successful journey ahead.
Finnair CEO Topi Manner Resigns From Airline
Topi Manner has served because the CEO of the airline for 4 years.
Restoring profitability
Finnair had been a loss-making carrier between Q1 2020 and Q4 2022, with the COVID-19 pandemic and, in a while, the airspace restrictions on overflights above Russia as a result of its illegal invasion of Ukraine, significantly impacting the airline and its operations, because it leveraged its Helsinki Airport (HEL) hub for travel between Europe and Asia.
Nonetheless, since then, the Finnish carrier has steadily remained profitable, with its lowest profit being €3 million ($3.2 million) in Q1 2023. While the airline has not published its 2023 results, Finnair said that it carried 10.9 million passengers in 2023, 20.8% greater than a 12 months prior. On average, its load aspects were 76.4%, 8.8% higher than in 2022.
878,000 Passengers Carried: Finnair Posts Strong December Performance Figures
The negative impact of the Russian airspace closure was still visible by the carrier.