Finland's consumer watchdog is to probe Finnair's latest advertising campaign. Finnair rolled out its biggest-ever price overhaul on Monday.
A new pricing plan introduced by the national air carrier on Monday makes it seem as if flight tickets will now be cheaper.
The flag carrier says that the new system is more transparent, but consumer ombudsman Marita Wilska says it's confusing.
Prices will now be based on demand, so that less-crowded flights will be cheaper. The other major change is that Finnair will no longer pay commissions to travel agents. They will now bill their fees separately, which could be anywhere between 10 and 100 euros.
Finnair itself will charge customers 15 to 45 euros for booking directly. An ad campaign launched on Sunday advertises one-way flights from Helsinki to Tampere or Turku for 24 euros. In reality, though, one-way tickets are not available and the fine print reveals that a round-trip ticket will actually set you back between 63 and 93 euros -- and that only on certain low-demand flights.
SAS/Air Botnia made a similar move last year, while other airlines operating in Finland are expected to follow suit soon.
The Consumer Ombudsman is to look into the matter on Monday. Finnair has declined comment pending word from the consumer watchdog.
YLE24, Finnish News Agency