Finland’s flag carrier Finnair has reopened a new route to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, after more than a decade. Finnair last operated the route between Helsinki Airport and CSMIA in 2009. Finavia Sales and Route Development senior vice-president Petri Vuori said: “We are very happy for Finnair’s reopened connection to Mumbai. The opening of the connection to India shows that the transfer traffic via Helsinki Airport is recovering.” The airline’s first flight arrived at the Mumbai airport on 7 August and departed on the same day. The relaunched connection will operate three times a week. CSMIA spokesperson was quoted as saying: “CSMIA is extremely delighted with the association with Finnair, one of the leading airlines catering to routes across Asia, US and Europe. With the promise of being a gateway to the Nordic country, this partnership further adds to the airport’s robust connectivity with the addition of a prominent hub like Helsinki to its route network. With an aim to provide passengers with unparalleled travel across geographies, the partnership is not just a step towards direct connectivity to Finland but is a testament to CSMIA’s constant effort to expand the portfolio of destinations around the world and vision to contribute to the global travel network.”<br/>
oneworld
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said strict air crew quarantine rules were crimping its ability to take advantage of rising travel demand, even as it narrowed its first-half loss to HK$5b ($636.98m). The carrier is falling far behind traditional rival Singapore Airlines in restoring international capacity because its Hong Kong-based crew on passenger planes must spend three nights in a hotel on return from each trip, complicating rosters. Hong Kong is also one of the few places in the world, along with mainland China and Taiwan, to still require COVID-19 quarantine for arriving passengers, though such hotel stays are to be cut to three days from seven, officials in the financial hub said this week. Cathay's first-half revenue rose 17% to HK$18.6b, driven by an increase in ticket sales and persistent strong demand for air cargo, although passenger numbers stayed 95.2% below pre-pandemic levels in June. Its loss was narrower than the HK$7.57b reported a year earlier, with cash flow turning positive toward the end of the half, and it expects its financial results to improve in the second half. The company's shares rose more than 3% on Wednesday afternoon on the news. Cathay on Wednesday reiterated that it expected passenger capacity to approach up to 25% of pre-pandemic levels by year-end, up from 11% in June. "We will only be able to operate more flight capacity when the existing stringent travel restrictions and quarantine requirements applicable to Hong Kong-based aircrew are lifted," Chairman Patrick Healy said in a statement.<br/>