Finnair Oyj - Changes board/management/auditors

CEO Mika Vehviläinen to leave Finnair

Finnair Plc stock exchange release  January 28, 2013 at 08:30 a.m. EET

Finnair CEO Mika Vehviläinen has announced he will resign from Finnair as of
February 28 to become the CEO of Cargotec. 


“It has been a great experience to head Finnair and to take part in the
enormous transformation that the aviation business is currently undergoing. I
have enjoyed leading the change at Finnair and I have had the privilege to work
with an excellent team - even if there have been some tough moments as well.
Together with the entire Finnair team, during the past three years we have
managed to implement several changes, some of them difficult, and improve
Finnair's competitiveness. I believe now is a good time to leave Finnair in the
hands of my future successor. The company is heading towards a positive
financial result and we are in a better position to build the kind of Finnair
that upcoming major investments require,” says Mika Vehviläinen. 

“It has been great to see how passionate our employees and many other people
are about Finnair. I will now become a Finnair client, and I am sure that the
blue and white Finnair aircraft will continue to make me feel warm and at home.
I have been offered a new, fascinating position, which is not very often
available. In my new role I will be able to draw on my entire earlier
experience, while also being given the opportunity to learn yet another sector
and work for the Finnish industry. I have now made the decision to take on this
new challenge,” Vehviläinen notes. 


“Mika has proven to be a strong change leader, who has developed Finnair in a
determined manner to be viable in the face of the aviation industry's
transformation,” says Harri Sailas, Chairman of the Finnair Board of Directors.
“While I regret the departure of Mika, Finnair has today a very strong
executive management team and a very experienced Board of Directors. Both will
ensure the momentum of the positive change at Finnair will be maintained while
the search for a new CEO is underway.The search for a new CEO has commenced and
we of course hope that the period of transition will be as short as possible.” 

Finnair Board of Directors has appointed Ville Iho, Chief Operating Officer of
Finnair, to be deputy CEO and lead Finnair until the new CEO has been
appointed. Mr. Iho has a broad and long experience at Finnair, having worked in
the company since 1998 and in the executive board since 2009. Finnair Board of
Directors has already started the search for the CEO. 


For more information: Finnair Media Desk, tel +358 9 818 4020,
comms(at)Finnair.com 


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