Former Nokia head to lift Finnair
HELSINKI (AFP) - Finnish airline Finnair has appointed Mika Vehvilaeinen as chief executive, to replace Jukka Hienonen who resigned after posting heavy losses.
| Related news: • Finnair: No speedy recovery in sight |
Vehvilaeinen, 48, will start at Finnair on January 5 next year. He is currently chief operating officer at Finnish-German telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks.
"He has strong experience of sales and marketing and of strategic management and business development in Asia, North America and Europe," Finnair described Vehvilaeinen in a statement.
Finnair, like the whole airline industry, has been struggling to boost its profitability as passenger numbers and fares are falling amid the global financial turmoil.
Last month Finnair reported a net loss of 20.7 million euros (a net loss of 31.1 million dollars) in the third quarter on the sales that shrank by nearly 22 percent to 437 million euros compared to the same period in 2008.
"Finnair has all that it takes to emerge from the hard times as a winner, but this will require goal-directed development of the business practices." Vehvilaeinen noted.
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Last Updated (Thursday, 12 November 2009 08:11)
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