Finnair and Lufthansa have formally severed their six year link, with co-operation due to be broken off at the end of October.
The two airlines have been co-operating on services between Finland and Germany since 1991, but the relationship cooled after Lufthansa formed a strategic alliance with Finnair's rival Scandinavian carrier SAS, a partnership sealed in 1996.
Finnair has since been building its own network of alliances, edging closer to the Swissair/Austrian Airlines/Sabena grouping, which includes a link with US carrier Delta Air Lines across the Atlantic. Finnair has also formed a Scandinavian grouping, linking with Maersk Air and Braathens.
Lufthansa says that it will now add services and increase frequencies on flights from Germany to Finland when the split with Finnair takes effect on 26 October.
Source: Flight International
