Finnair Cargo, the wholly-owned freight subsidiary of Finnair (AY, Helsinki Vantaa), says it has signed a freighter-sharing agreement with IAG Cargo ahead of the launch of flights to London later this year.

The Finnish carrier said in a press release that it would use an A300-600(F) to launch a 2x weekly Helsinki Vantaa-London Luton service. London will effectively become Finnair third European freight hub after Helsinki and Brussels National. The flights will be operated by DHL subsidiary EAT Leipzig (QY, Leipzig/Halle) which already plies other cargo services for IAG Cargo.

"The freighter, which has a 43 ton capacity, will fly twice a week and provides Finnair with the ability to easily route cargo through London. This deal benefits customers by significantly improving connectivity between Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas," the airline said.

Finnair Cargo joined IAG Cargo’s ‘Partner Plus’ enhanced cargo interline programme during the first quarter of this year joining five other carriers including Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International), JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda), the Avianca group, and American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth).