Snowbird Airlines (Helsinki Vantaa) has revised its launch plans and is now looking to commence operations this Summer. According to YLE, the start-up, staffed by various ex-Air Finland (Helsinki Vantaa) employees, is now planning to operate charter flights from provincial Finnish airports to the Mediterranean on behalf of tour operators. Original plans to serve Gazipasa, Turkey have now been dropped owing to market saturation said chief executive Marja Aalto. “We will start with the help of a cooperation partner so that we can begin with a rather light programme and won’t need to have our own plane to fill a certain number of flights from the very beginning,” she said. Local tour operators say that poor connections to northern Finnish airports limit inbound travel to the north. During the next winter season, Snowbird plans to bring vacationers directly from central Europe. The airline's first aircraft, an A320-200, is expected in Europe in the next 6 months.