Finnair said it has negotiated a compensation package with Airbus to cover the delays in the introduction of the A350, a revamped version of which was unveiled yesterday at the Farnborough Airshow (see today's show report above).Terms of the compensation deal were not disclosed. Finnair originally planned to take the first of nine firm A350s in the spring of 2012. That has been pushed back to 2013.

"We are pleased that we will be acquiring an even better aircraft than we originally ordered in December 2005," Finnair Deputy CEO Henrik Arle said. "Naturally, the changes in the release timetable require us to make adjustments, but we have negotiated on these interim arrangements with Airbus in a constructive atmosphere. Our long-haul traffic growth will continue and our fleet renewal program is moving forward."

Arle said the airline will increase the number of A340s in the fleet (it has three firm orders plus four options) until the A350 is available and extend its leases on seven MD-11s. "The basis of our arrangement with Airbus is that the foundations and profitability of our business is not threatened by the change," he said.

Separately, Finnair flew 1.55 billion RPKs in June, a 7.8% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 2.9% to 1.97 billion ASKs and load factor increased 3.5 points to 78.7%.