“We have not seen any impact of sanctions,” Vauramo said.
Vauramo noted that the Finnish air carrier flies to Moscow and St. Petersburg, but may reopen flights to Samara, Kazan and Nizhniy Novgorod. Flights to these cities were discontinued in 2014 because of low customer demand.
“Now we will see if there is more demand for them or not,” Vauramo said.
Vauramo added Finnair may further expand its services in Russia depending on demand as well as on the country’s economic situation.
“It depends on the market and how the market recovers. The Russian ruble has lost so much of value and purchase power is somewhat lower now. It’s a very difficult time at this moment,” he stated.
Finnair does not have any flights to Ukraine or Crimea, and Vauramo said the company does not plan to establish them.
The United States, the European Union and some of their allies first imposed economic sanctions after Crimea reunified with Russia in March 2014. More sanctions followed as Western countries accused Russia of playing a part in the armed conflict in Ukraine, a claim repeatedly denied by Moscow.
The economic situation in Russia is expected to stabilize in 2016, according to the European Commission's estimates released in early May 2015.
Finnair is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, headquartered in Vantaa. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international air travel in Finland.
