Finnair lands ‘Executive Leadership’ award for strategy transformation

Finnair has landed its latest award, with the flag carrier having been crowned for ‘Executive Leadership: Europe’ at the Airline Strategy Awards.

The ceremony, hosted in London, saw Ole Orvér, Finnair’s Chief Commercial Officer, collect the award on behalf of the airline’s Senior Leadership.

The new accolade praises the strategic leadership of Finnair, in response to the barriers created by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which subsequently led to the closure of Russian airspace.

Finnair’s strategy had long been based on connecting Europe and Asia via the short northern route, however, following the closure of Russian airspace, flight times to Asia destinations were increased by around 40%, affecting the profitability of the company.

The airline’s leadership navigated through this crisis, driving a new strategy to create a geographically more balanced network, a more sustainable balance sheet, and leveraging new partnerships, including supporting oneworld alliance members through aircraft wet-leases.

As a result, Finnair’s 2023 financial results were the best in a decade, with a €191.4 million operating profit, securing a bright future for the airline and its loyal customers.

Ole Orvér, Finnair Chief Commercial Officer, said: “It is an honour to collect this prestigious award on behalf of the entire team at Finnair.

“The past few years have presented us with a unique set of challenges, however, the agility and leadership of the Finnair team around the world has now paid off, with 2023 seeing some of the best results in our history.

“We are now looking forward to the next chapter in our history, welcoming even more customers onto Finnair flights.”

Lewis Harper, Editor of Airline Business, said: “Judges highlighted the Finnair leadership team’s successful navigation of the business through the dual challenges of Covid-19 followed by the war in Ukraine, which forced a complete rethink of the carrier’s business model.

“That successful pivot of the business through the redeployment of capacity was praised by the judges, particularly as it came from a small network carrier that does not enjoy the economies of scale seen at the big airline groups.

“They were also impressed by the strategic flexibility shown in moves such as wet-leasing aircraft to airline partners.

“Judges cited Finnair’s achievement of a full-year profit for 2023 as evidence of the leadership team’s efforts bearing fruit.”

The Airline Strategy Awards have been recognising airline leadership excellence since their launch in 2002. The award winners are selected by an independent panel of industry experts, following a nominations process overseen by FlightGlobal’s Airline Business and Korn Ferry.

This accolade comes on the back of Finnair’s success at the Skytrax World Airline Awards last month, where it was voted as the ‘Best Airline in Northern Europe’ for the 14th consecutive time. Finnair was also praised for the ‘Best Cabin Crew in Northern Europe’.