Finnair Leisure Flights and the British leisure flight company XL Airways UK Ltd. have signed an agreement on the lease of a new Airbus 330-200 wide-bodied aircraft with crew for Finnair Leisure Flights’ use in the winter season 2008–2009.

The aircraft will be delivered in November 2008. The intention is to operate the aircraft on popular Thailand flights from Helsinki to Phuket. The aircraft will fly to Thailand non-stop, six times per week from November 2008.

“The agreement will allow a significant increase in Leisure Flights’ capacity for the next winter traffic season. At the same time, we will be able to meet increased demand for non-stop leisure flights towards Thailand,” says Finnair’s Vice President, Leisure Flights Erno Hildén.

The aircraft has a total of 328 seats, of which 42 are in Comfort Class located in the front section, and 286 in Economy Class.

“The new Airbus A330-200 will allow non-stop flights from Helsinki to Phuket in Thailand, which will cut the travel time by around two hours. Our leased aircraft delivers a very high standard of passenger comfort; the seat spacing in Economy Class is 32–33 inches (81-84 cm) and in Comfort Class 38 inches (96 cm),” explains Hildén says.

In winter season 2008/2009, in addition to the Airbus A330-200, Finnair Leisure Flights will operate its leisure flights with a fleet of seven Boeing 757-200 aircraft as well as Airbus A320 aircraft leased from Finnair Scheduled Passenger Traffic. The increased popularity of winter tourism enables capacity to be increased with the wide-bodied aircraft.

Finnair Leisure Flights will fly to Thailand a total of 11 times per week in winter season 2008/2009. Other winter season long-haul destinations include Vietnam, India, the Caribbean and Brazil as well as Fort Lauderdale in Florida and Penang in Malaysia, which are returning to the flight programme.