Will start operating flights between Helsinki-Delhi from August: Finnair

Finnair will start operating flights between Helsinki and Delhi from August, the airline said on Monday.

However, the Indian government is yet to take a decision on lifting the suspension on scheduled commercial passenger flights which was imposed in the wake of a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The lockdown, which was imposed on March 25, entered its fourth phase on Monday.

"Finnair's long-haul operations will commence in phases from July, with strong focus on Asia, which is strategically important for Finnair," the airline said in a release.

In August, Finnair will start flights to Delhi and to New York, and in November to Tokyo Haneda airport, it said.

The announcement by the Fiinish airline comes days after German airline group Lufthansa said on May 14 that it is planning to resume flights to India from June.

Finnair Chief Commercial Officer Ole Orvr said,We expect aviation to recover gradually, starting in July.

Our intention is to operate approximately 30 per cent of our normal amount of flights in July, and we will also start long-haul flights to our key Asian destinations. We will then add routes and frequencies month by month as demand recovers, Orver added.