Det var ju flera år sedan och är tydligen inte aktuellt längre
Direct Rival
Vantaa-based Finnair isn’t talking with Norwegian Air, SAS or Flybe Group Plc, Europe’s biggest regional airline, with which it has an existing venture in Finland, Vehvilainen said, adding that SAS’s costs are too high, Norwegian is a direct competitor and U.K.-based Flybe’s planes are too small.
Among other candidates identified by Jaakko Tyrvainen, an analyst at FIM Bank in Helsinki, German discount carrier Air Berlin Plc said it couldn’t immediately comment and AS Estonian Air isn’t in any talks, according to its CEO, Tero Taskila.
While closer links with Finnair would in some ways be a “match made in heaven,” they’re not on the agenda as Estonian focuses on the Baltic, Taskila said by telephone.
Finnair aims to seal a deal by the middle of this year and commence operations in the first half of 2013, said Vehvilainen, who took over as CEO two years ago. Feeder costs could be cut by “tens of percentage points,” he said.
"One way to get more competitive fast is to start a new airline with a completely different [cost] framework than we have today," said Vehvilainen. Iberia, the Spanish wing of International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG.LN), plans just such a move in its home market.
Vehvilainen said Norwegian Air Shuttle is not one of Finnair's potential partners--it's rather the new joint venture's main competitor.
Ryanair Holdings (RYA.DB), Europe's largest budget carrier which has identified the Nordic region as one its growth areas, also declined to comment on the possibility of a tie-up with Finnair
Read more: INTERVIEW: Finnair Seeks Partner To Compete With Norwegian In Scandinavia | Fox Business
http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...create-nordic-airline-pact-as-loss-jumps.html
Last edited: 10 Februari 2012