Finnair to replace 1,700 A321 seat covers following potentially uncertified washing procedures
The airline informed passengers that it had to ground eight of its Airbus A321 aircraft on October 13.
Finnair has detailed that it will have to replace around 1,700 seat covers on eight Airbus A321 aircraft after they were grounded following potentially uncertified washing procedures that were used on the covers.
The Finnish airline detailed in a statement on October 22, 2025, that the eight A321s should be back in service by the end of this month, with six out of the eight returning to service “within a week.”
It highlighted that it grounded the eight A321s on October 13, after it received information from the manufacturer of the seat covers that “the impact of washing on the fire protection of the seat covers had not been verified in the required manner.”
“The affected seat covers were manufactured by a long-standing Finnair partner, based on specifications provided by the original seat manufacturer. The covers have been washed in accordance with the information received from the original seat manufacturer.”
Finnair noted that seats are typically washed every two years, and that it is a standard “cleaning method for aircraft seats" that is used across its fleet.
Pekka Korhonen, the Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at Finnair, stated that once the airline was informed “that the impact of washing on the fire protection of the seat covers had not been verified in the required manner, it was clear that the aircraft had to remain on the ground until the issue was resolved.”
Since October 13, the airline has had to cancel around 70 flights, affecting around 11,000 passengers.
Rytis Beresnevicius
Finnair said that it has been installing new seat covers, with the process having been completed on one A321 aircraft. The new seat covers have been sourced from “multiple suppliers.”
Planespotters.net records showed that the Finnish airline has 15 A321 aircraft. Analysis of all 15 A321s’ flight activity on Flightradar24 indicated that the eight affected aircraft are potentially the airframes registered as OH-LZM, OH-LZN, OH-LZO, OH-LZP, OH-LZR, OH-LZS, OH-LZT, and OH-LZU.
However, OH-LZR returned to commercial service on October 19 after not operating any flights since it returned to HEL on a flight from Malaga Costa Del Sol Airport (AGP) on October 13. OH-LZP was moved from HEL to Tallinn Airport (TLL) on an irregular flight number, flight AY 8921, on October 21, presumably to fit new seat covers.
Finnair’s regularly scheduled flight numbers from HEL to TLL are 1011, 1013, 1015, 1017, 1019, 1021, 1023, 1025, 1027, 1031, 1035, and 1037, which is currently scheduled to begin on October 28.
Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that flight AY 1037 should be operated by an Embraer E190, the airline’s only jet-powered flight between the two capitals, since the other itineraries should be operated by its ATR 72-500s.
The Finnish airline concluded that in order to avoid too many disruptions, it has wet leased two aircraft, warning that some flight cancellations might still happen until every grounded A321 is back in service.
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