Cargo news

24 September 2024

The Helsinki Las Palmas route opens great wide-body network connections

Finnair flies from Helsinki to Las Palmas daily every morning from 8:05 to 12:35 and back to Helsinki every afternoon from 13:45 to 22:00. The aircraft used is an A350, which makes it possible to ship general cargo in units, in addition to smaller bulk cargo. The commercial capacity may vary depending on the individual flight, but generally, it is between 18 and 30 tons. 

This route makes it possible for customers to connect to the rest of the Finnair wide-body network through the Nordics to Asia and The United States, and within Europe to some of the main economic hubs, London and Amsterdam. 

The Canary Islands are a well-known leisure travel destination and a popular choice for expats staying on the islands permanently or for some months of the year. In 2022, there were almost 300,000 expats living on the islands, which represents 13.2 per cent of the overall population. For Nordic people staying on the island for extended periods, the possibility to receive goods and ship moving loads from the Nordics easily is a well-received change. 

At the same time, there is also a surge of foreign companies settling on the islands, as well as the expat population being very active in starting new business ventures. This is due to attractive investment conditions, including a skilled workforce, strong infrastructure, favorable tax rates, and competitive costs. The need for fast and reliable cargo shipments will also be growing in the coming years, at the pace of the growing companies.

Developing import and export landscape 

The Canary Islands is an interesting economic area, that has been going through major growth in the last two years. The GDP growth for the islands has been faster than in mainland Spain and the strong travel sector is expected to boost the economic situation further in the coming years. 

The tourism sector dominates the economic structure, with trade, transportation, hotels, restaurants and leisure accounting for almost 38 per cent of the GDP. The manufacturing industry only accounts for 3 % and the export of goods 6.7 %, the lowest of all Spanish economic areas. 

However, even though manufacturing and export only account for a small percentage of the overall GDP, there has been a fast rise in their economic worth and the expectations for these sectors are positive. This indicates that the air cargo needs of the islands are also on the rise. 

The main commodities shipped from the Canary Islands now are tropical agricultural products, such as herbs, flowers, fruit and vegetables and tobacco as well as fish. Of the manufactured products the main commodities are spare parts and garments. 

From other countries, the Canary Islands receives shipments of aircraft and ship supplies and spare parts. Because of the island’s locations, there is also a vast need for perishables, with up to 80 to 90 % of the food consumed being imported.

Bookings for Helsinki-Las Palmas route 

The bookings for our Finnair HEL-LPA route can be made through Finnair Cargo Online or our local representatives. You can look at schedules and availabilities using our Schedule Search.