Chairman of the Board of Finnair to not stand for re-election

Mr. Harri Sailas, the Chairman of the Board of Finnair, has announced that he will not stand for re-election when new candidates are proposed for the Finnair Board of Directors. According to the decision made by Finnair’s 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM), a Shareholders’ Nomination Committee shall prepare a proposal on the composition of the Board to be elected in the company’s next AGM to be held on 27 March 2013. Harri Sailas serves as an expert member of the Committee preparing the proposal for the 2013 AGM.

“I feel that Finnair’s AGM in March 2013 will be a good time to elect a new Chairman of the Board for the company. Therefore I have announced, that I will not stand for re-election when future Board members and Chairman are to be elected,” says Sailas. “Thanks to Finnair’s extensive cost reduction program, the company’s business has a possibility to really take off, and its structural change is progressing steadily,” Sailas continues. “The co-operation between Finnair’s Board of Directors and Executive Board to improve the company’s position has been good, and Finnair employees have shown that they are strongly committed to the company. Even if the company’s cost and productivity challenges are not yet over, I am confident that Finnair will emerge as a winner, if the ongoing change process is continued determinedly.”