This Monday saw the inauguration of Juneayo’s second route from China to Helsinki. The once-weekly flight to the Finnish capital is part of a continued codeshare collaboration with Finnair and is currently the only nonstop service from Zhengzhou to Europe.
In the making for a long time
With the launch of Chinese carrier Juneyao’s second route to the Finnish capital, travelers can now fly nonstop between Helsinki and Zhengzhou in the Henan province. Beginning this past Monday, October 12th, Juneayo operates a once-weekly service with one of its 787-9 Dreamliners.
“The new connection strengthens Helsinki’s position as a significant hub for Asian flights and is an important development for the future. It also supports Finland’s export trade and security of supply. We have worked for this new route for a long period of time,” Finavia’s Vice President for Sales and Route Development Petri Vuori said in a statement seen by Simple Flying.
Schedule and cost
The flight will leave Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO) at 01:55 and arrive at Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL) at 06:10 local time. The return flight will depart at 20:30 and arrive back in Zhengzhou at 10:00 the next day. Flight times are estimated at 9 h 15 min for the CGO to HEL leg and 8 h 30 min for the way back.
A quick search reveals that roundtrip economy tickets cost just over $1,000 at the time of writing. It is unclear how many passengers were on the inaugural service earlier this week.
Evolution of a partnership
This is the otherwise mainly domestic operator Juneyao’s second nonstop route from China to Helsinki. In July 2019, the airline launched a nonstop route from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). Since then, Finnair and Juneyao codeshare on each other’s Helsinki to Shanghai routes.
In April this year, an interesting timing that may have raised an eyebrow or two, Finnair and Juneyao extended their codeshare partnership to include many other destinations on each carrier’s respective network.
“Despite these immensely challenging times for our industry, we at Finnair remain steadfast in our belief and commitment to China as a key market,” Finnair’s Chief Commercial Officer Ole Orvér said at the time.
At the moment the only CGO to Europe nonstop service
When international travel begins to open up again, passengers will now have nonstop access from Europe to Zhengzhou, the largest city and capital of the east-central Henan province. Currently, the route to Helsinki is the only nonstop service between CGO and Europe.
China Southern Airlines launched flights between Zhengzhou and London’s Heathrow in June 2019. The service was later included in a codeshare agreement with British Airways. However, due to the ongoing global health crisis, the route was suspended in February this year.
What do you think about Juneyao’s route launch? Let us know in the comments.
