All eight of Finnair's A321 aircraft are set to return to service by the end of the month, with six expected to be back in service within a week. The first aircraft has already resumed operations.
The airline had temporarily suspended services on these aircraft on October 13, after it was informed by its seat cover manufacturer that the fire protection of the covers had not been properly verified. As a result, the airline is replacing around 1,700 seat covers across all eight of its A321 jets.
The airline had to cancel around 70 flights since, impacting around 11,000 customers.
Finnair SVP technical operations Pekka Korhonen said the airline is “deeply sorry” for the disruption.
“Once we received information that the impact of washing on the fire protection of the seat covers had not been verified in the required manner, it was clear that the aircraft had to remain on the ground until the issue was resolved,” said Korhonen.
The new covers are being sourced from multiple suppliers.