Finnair Launches Melbourne Route – Here's What It'll Cost in Avios From the UK

Finnair has announced it'll start flying to Melbourne from October 2026, adding Australia to its network for the first time. The daily service will route via Bangkok using an A350, connecting Melbourne to Helsinki.

Flights depart Helsinki just after midnight, stop briefly in Bangkok, and arrive in Melbourne the following morning. Return flights leave Melbourne in the afternoon, connecting neatly with Finnair's morning European departures from Helsinki. Finnair fly to Heathrow, Manchester, and Edinburgh, meaning you can be in the UK by lunchtime.

Using Avios for the Route

For those who don't know, Finnair use Avios for the reward currency. So if you're looking to use Avios for this route, Finnair's award chart is as such:

Avios prices for Finnair Classic award flights

Zone	Economy Class	Premium Economy	Business Class
Finland and Northern Europe	6,500 Avios	-	10,000 Avios
Central Europe	12,000 Avios	-	18,000 Avios
Western and Southern Europe	13,000 Avios	-	20,000 Avios
Canary Islands, Madeira, Eilat and Tel Aviv	15,000 Avios	-	25,000 Avios
Doha, Dubai and India	28,000 Avios	42,000 Avios	55,000 Avios
Most of Asia and North America and Bangkok–Melbourne	30,000 Avios	43,500 Avios	62,500 Avios
Japan, Singapore and Los Angeles	30,000 Avios	43,500 Avios	62,500 Avios
Melbourne	60,000 Avios	87,000 Avios	125,000 Avios

Finnair also guarantees a minimum number of seats to be able to be bought with Avios, with at least four seats in economy, at least two in premium economy, and at least two in business.

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When your award booking includes a connecting flight, Avios will be charged separately for each flight, except for flights within zone 1 (Finland and Northern Europe).

Meaning, that a booking from the UK, you'll pay for two separate segments: London to Helsinki, then Helsinki to Melbourne. That means 73,000 Avios in economy (13,000 + 60,000), or 145,000 Avios in business class (20,000 + 125,000) each way. Premium economy isn't sold between the UK and Helsinki, so assuming you fly economy from the UK to Helsinki, before flying premium economy onto Melbourne, the cost would be 100,000 Avios for premium economy (13,000 + 87,000).

For comparison to Sydney, for a one way off-peak ticket BA charges 55,000 Avios in economy, 88,000 Avios in premium economy, and 159,500 Avios in Club World. At peak they charge 60,500 Avios in economy, 126,500 Avios in premium economy, and 187,000 Avios in Club World.

A huge perk of using Avios on Finnair is that they do not do peak pricing using Avios. That means in the school holidays Finnair is considerably cheaper than BA.

The route goes on sale today with the first flight scheduled for 25th October 2026, pending government approval.

Sam

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