Finnair Launches Record-Breaking New 24-Hour Direct Flights: See Map Now

Published Oct 26, 2026, 8:54 AM EDT Prachi is a London-based journalist with extensive experience in the aviation industry. She has worked for several leading industry publications, covering a broad range of topics. Her expertise lies in aircraft maintenance, emerging technologies, and advanced air mobility. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Journalism, focusing on data journalism and its potential to transform conventional aviation reporting. The Northern Hemisphere winter season has officially begun, and airlines have switched to their winter schedules. We are seeing several interesting developments this season, and one that cannot be overlooked is Finnair's brand-new route to Australia. Yesterday, October 25, the airline launched a new daily service from Helsinki Airport (HEL) to Melbourne Airport (MEL) in Australia via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Thailand. This new route marks the first time in Finnair's 103-year history that it has operated flights to Australia or anywhere else in Oceania. Historically, the Finnish flag carrier has only served the Australian market indirectly through codeshare agreements and interline partnerships with other airlines, including fellow oneworld Alliance members Qantas, British Airways, and Cathay Pacific. Finnair’s New Service From Helsinki To Melbourne Via Bangkok The new service, which is being dubbed the "Reindeer Route," will operate year-round and has become the longest scheduled route in Finnair’s network. As the oneworld Alliance member continues to avoid Russian and Iranian airspace, the journey covers approximately 9,383 miles (15,101 km) each way. Given the distance between Helsinki and Melbourne, the service will operate via BKK, which brings the total journey time to around 24 hours. Previously, Finnair's longest scheduled service was to Singapore (SIN), covering about 5,761 miles (9,272 km) and taking roughly 13 hours one way. The Finnish flag carrier deploys its Airbus A350-900 aircraft on the new route, offering two different seating configurations. According to Cirium's scheduling data, both layouts are scheduled to operate the service. The more premium-heavy configuration accommodates 278 passengers, including 43 business class seats arranged in a 1-2-1 layout, 24 premium economy seats arranged eight abreast, and 211 economy class seats arranged nine abreast. Equipment Helsinki (HEL) to Melbourne (MEL); Local time Melbourne (MEL) to Helsinki (HEL); Local time Airbus A350-900 AY145: HEL– BKK (12:15 AM – 4:35 PM); BKK – MEL (6:25 PM – 7:20 AM+1) AY 146: MEL – BKK (3:30 PM – 8:40 PM); BKK – HEL (10:25 PM – 6:00 AM+1) The second configuration offers a higher overall capacity of 321 passengers, although it has fewer premium seats. Of these, 265 seats are in economy class, accounting for approximately 82.5% of the aircraft's total capacity. The remaining seats comprise 26 premium economy seats and 30 business class seats. Loading map… Drag to explore Does The New Melbourne Route Make Sense For Finnair? Credit: Austin Deppe | Shutterstock Now, of course, many would question whether this new route makes sense for Finnair. According to the airline, when Melbourne was first suggested internally, the idea felt "bold but intriguing." Finnair explained its reasoning, saying, “Melbourne has a large European community, and travel between Australia and Europe is growing in both directions, for both leisure and business." However, the point-to-point market between Finland and Australia remains relatively small. Data from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) shows that approximately 11,980 Finnish residents visit Australia annually, while around 12,360 Australians travel to Finland. This represents roughly 24,000 travelers between the two countries each year. The market between Helsinki and Melbourne is even smaller; booking data show fewer than 10,000 passengers traveled between the two cities in the 12 months to October 2025. But there is more to the route than just connecting Finland and Australia. By operating via the Thai capital under fifth freedom traffic rights, Finnair can also sell tickets for travel solely between the Thai capital and Melbourne. This allows the airline to tap into the much larger leisure market between Thailand and Australia (over 160,000 passengers). Additionally, another important factor is the Finnish airline’s connecting network across the Nordic and Baltic countries. The flight timings, with departures from Helsinki at 00:10 and arrivals back at around 06:05, are designed to feed passengers from these markets into the new Melbourne service. Finnair Joins British Airways And Turkish Airlines In Australia Credit: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock Furthermore, Finnair has become the third European airline to offer flights to Australia, joining Turkish Airlines and British Airways. The Turkish flag carrier currently operates five weekly flights to Sydney and three weekly services to Melbourne. In fact, as of today, October 26, it has made a major change to its Sydney service, switching its stopover from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to SIN. Its Melbourne flights also operate via Singapore. Meanwhile, British Airways currently operates one daily flight to Sydney via Singapore and is scheduled to launch a new daily service to Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur on January 9, 2027. Overall, this winter, airlines (including Qantas) have scheduled approximately 1,153 flights from Europe to Australia, offering around 337,357 one-way seats.