Finnair adds Chicago-Helsinki route to summer schedule

Finnair will fly to Chicago O'Hare next summer, launching seasonal service to its hub in Helsinki.

Beginning June 15, the airline will fly three weekly flights on the route using Airbus A330 aircraft. Finnair will operate one round-trip flight each Monday, Thursday and Saturday through Oct. 17.

"Chicago is a great addition to our summer destinations, and is in demand with leisure travelers from Northern Europe," Petri Vuori, Finnair's VP of Global Sales, says in a statement.

Finnair, of course, is a member of the oneworld frequent-flier alliance that includes American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia. Those carriers also have a joint-venture partnership that allows them to coordinate schedules and share revenue on flights across the North Atlantic.

Finnair's service will essentially replace service that had been operated on oneworld partner American. AA had offered seasonal summer service between Chicago and Helsinki in previous years, but spokesman Matt Miller confirmed to Today in the Sky that American did not plan to fly the route in the summer of 2015.

Going forward, customers on Finnair's Helsinki-Chicago route will be able to book North American connections on American, which operates a major hub at Chicago O'Hare. Passengers flying through Helsinki will be able to connect to Finnair flights to destinations in Europe and Asia.

"Finnair's timetable allows for easy connections to Chicago from throughout our extensive network in Europe and even Asia," Vuori adds in the airline's statement. "Chicago, as a hub of our oneworld partner American Airlines, also offers excellent onward connections in America."

Finnair also says in its statement that despite its schedule of just three flights a week, customers would be able to "mix and match flights on different (oneworld) carriers for the best pricing and scheduling. For example, an itinerary could include a nonstop flight to Chicago in one direction, but a return flight connecting through another transatlantic hub if the timing is more convenient."

Finnair says the new Chicago route will come at the expense of its seasonal summertime route between Helsinki and Hanoi, which is being discontinued.