Finnair

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Finnair

IATA AY	ICAO FIN	Callsign Finnair
Founded		1 November 1923[1]
Hubs		Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Frequent flyer program		Finnair Plus
Member lounge		Finnair Lounge
Alliance		Oneworld
Fleet size		55
Destinations		65
Parent company		Finnair Plc
Headquarters		Vantaa, Finland
Key people		Jukka Hienonen (CEO)
Website: http://www.finnair.com

Finnair Airbus A320-200

Finnair MD-11, decorated with Moomin characters

Finnair is Finland's largest airline and the national flag carrier. Its headquarters are located in Vantaa, Finland with its main hub at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Finnair and its subsidiary companies dominate both the domestic and international air travel markets in Finland. Finnair is a member of the Oneworld alliance. In 2006, the airline transported 8.8 million passengers, on a network of 15 domestic and 55 international destinations. In addition there are about 50 seasonal charter-flight destinations.

The airline has not had a fatal accident since 1963, nor has any severe damage to its aircraft occurred since then, ranking it the second-safest airline of all time (behind Australia's Qantas).

1 History
2 Destinations
3 Fleet
- 3.1 Current fleet
- 3.2 Retired fleet
4 Finnair Plus
5 Finnair Lounges
- 5.1 Locations
6 In-flight entertainment
- 6.1 Blue Wings
7 Codeshare agreements
8 Incidents and accidents
9 References
10 External links

[edit] History

Finnair was founded as Aero O/Y (Aero Ltd) by consul Bruno Lucander in 1923. Lucander had previously run the Finnish operations of the Estonian airline Aeronaut. In mid-1923 he concluded an agreement with Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG to provide aircraft and technical support in exchange for a 50% ownership in the new airline. The charter establishing the company was signed in Helsinki on September 12, 1923 and the company was entered into the trade register on December 11, 1923. The first flight was flown on March 20, 1924 from Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia with Junkers F.13 aircraft equipped with floats. The last seaplane service was operated in December 1936 following the construction of the first aerodromes in Finland.

World War II proved difficult for the airline as Helsinki and other Finnish cities suffered air raids. The company saw half of its fleet requisitioned by the Finnish Air Force during that time, and it is estimated that during the Winter War of 1939 and 1940 half of the airline's passengers were children that were evacuated to Sweden.

In 1946 the Finnish government acquired a majority stake in the company and re-established services to Europe on November 1, 1947. In 1953, the name Finnair was adopted as the official marketing brand. In 1961, Finnair joined the jet age by adding RR Avon-engined Caravelles to its fleet. These were later exchanged with the manufacturer for PW-engined Super Caravelles. In 1962 Finnair acquired a 27% controlling interest in a private Finnish airline, Kar-Air. Finnair Oy became the company's official name on June 25, 1968. In 1969, it took possession of its first U.S. made jet, a Douglas DC-8. The first transatlantic service to New York was inaugurated on May 15, 1969.

In 1975, Finnair received its first wide-bodied aircraft when the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 entered service. In 1979 it established a subsidiary company Finnaviation for domestic operations, with a 60% stake. In 1983, Finnair became the first operator to fly non-stop from Western Europe to Japan when Helsinki-Tokyo flights with one McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30ER aircraft were started. In 1988, Finnair launched a Helsinki-Beijing route, making Finnair the first Western European carrier to fly non-stop between Europe and China.

In 1987 Finnair became the launch customer for the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, the first of which was delivered on December 7, 1990. The first revenue service with the MD-11 took place on December 20, 1990, with OH-LGA operating a flight from Helsinki to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

Both Kar-Air and Finnaviation became wholly owned by Finnair and were integrated into the mainline operations in 1997. On September 25, 1997 Finnair Oyj (Finnair Plc) became the company's official name. In 1999, Finnair joined the Oneworld alliance. In 2001, Finnair recycled the Aero name again and established Aero Airlines, an airline based in Tallinn, Estonia. In 2003 Finnair acquired ownership of the Swedish low-cost airline, Flynordic, which operates mainly within Scandinavia.

The State of Finland is the controlling shareholder (58.42%), and Icelandic investment funds have a sizeable portion of the rest. Finnair's stock is listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The airline employs 8,711 staff (at January 2005). Currently Finnair is the fifth oldest airline in the world with uninterrupted existence.

[edit] Destinations

see full article: Finnair destinations.

From its Helsinki-Vantaa base Finnair flies to Asia and North America, and is now extending its European operations along with the introduction of Embraer jets. The domestic operations are partly carried out in cooperation with the Estonia-based subsidiary Aero and Finncomm Airlines, operating an ATR and an ATR/Embraer fleet, respectively.

[edit] Fleet

[edit] Current fleet

Finnair Boeing 757

Finnair Embraer 170

Finnair Airbus A340-300

The Finnair fleet consists of the following aircraft:^[1]

**Finnair Fleet**
Aircraft	Total	Passengers	Routes	Notes
Airbus A319-100	11	105-126
Airbus A320-200	12	124-159		New cabin seats during spring 2007
Airbus A321-200	6	154-181		New cabin seats during spring 2007
Airbus A330	(7 orders) (4 options)
Airbus A340-300	1 (4 orders) (4 options)	269 (42/227) 295 (42/253)
Airbus A350XWB-900	(11 orders) (4 options)			Entry into service: 2014
Boeing 757-200	7	227	Charter and leisure flights only	Fleet to be configured with winglets
McDonnell Douglas MD-11	7	282 (36/246)		Exit from service: 2008-2010
Embraer 170	10	76
Embraer 190	1 (9 orders)	100

[edit] Retired fleet

Junkers F.13 (1924-1935)
Junkers G.24 (1926-1935)
Junkers Ju 52/3m (1932-1949)
de Havilland Dragon Rapide (1937-1947)
Douglas DC-2 (1941-1948)
Douglas DC-3 (1947-1967)
Convair Metropolitan (1953-1980)
Sud Aviation Caravelle 1A (1960-1964)
Sud Aviation Caravelle 10B (Super Caravelle) (1964-1983)
Douglas DC-8-62CF
Douglas DC-9-10, DC-9-40, DC-9-50 (1971-2003)
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30/ER (1975-1996)
Fokker F-27 (1980-1987)
McDonnell Douglas MD-82, MD-83, MD-87 (1983-2006)
ATR-42 (1986-1990)
Airbus A300B4 (1986-1998)
ATR-72 (1989-2004)
Saab 340

The average Finnair fleet age is 6.2 years at April 2006.

On June 30, 2004 Finnair announced an order for twelve 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft plus 8 options. On December 2, 2005 Finnair switched the last two E170 orders and 4 of its options to Embraer 190 orders. Both sets of aircraft will be delivered between September 2005 and December 2007. ^[2] ^[3]

On December 7, 2005 Finnair announced an order for three Airbus A340-300E to be delivered from 2007 and nine Airbus A350-900s plus four options to be delivered from 2011. The A350s will replace the MD-11s, which will be retired by 2012.^[4]

Finnair received one A340-311 aircraft from Virgin Atlantic on June 12, 2006 which will operate on the Shanghai route from July 1. It will initially fly a few domestic routes for crew training purposes. The first such flight was made on June 19, 2006 from Helsinki-Vantaa to Kuopio.

There has been speculation on buying at least two Airbus A330 MRTT planes together with the Finnish Defence Forces. Finnair's CEO Jukka Hienonen, however, states the plan is not currently receiving any serious consideration by the airline.[2]

The planform of an A320 (Finnair A320-200 taking off)

[edit] Finnair Plus

Finnair Plus is Finnair's frequent flyer program. Passengers are awarded points based on the type and class of flight flown. Once enough miles are banked into your account, Finnair rewards you with an exclusive membership tier. The tiers are Finnair Basic, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Finnair has a Junior tier exclusively for minors. Silver, Gold, and Platinum members have more privledges will traveling, such as premium check-in desks and priority boarding.

Finnair offers frequent flyer partnerships with the following airlines:

Finnair also offers frequent flyer partnerships with the following car rental agencies:

[edit] Finnair Lounges

Finnair has lounges at two airports, and has contract lounges at all international destinations.

[edit] Locations

Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (7)
Stockholm-Arlanda Airport

[edit] In-flight entertainment

[edit] Blue Wings

Cover of Blue Wings. May 2006 edition.

Finnair's inflight magazine, Blue Wings, is published ten times per year by Finnish media company SanomaWSOY. There are English and Finnish articles in the magazine. The first edition of Blue Wings magazine was published in 1980. The magazine 'Lento' is also published and presents in flight information, such as the onboard shop and route information.

There are domestic and international newspapers on all flights, and magazines on long-haul flights in the business class.

[edit] Codeshare agreements

Finnair has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

[edit] Incidents and accidents

On 15 November 1927 one Aero O/Y Junkers F.13 disappeared en route from Tallinn to Helsinki. The aircraft was carrying two Finnish generals and the pilot. The pilot was a former communist pilot. It has been speculated that the pilot defected to the Soviet Union.
In 1937, an Aero O/Y Junkers Ju 52 lost its nose engine during a flight from Turku to Stockholm. The pilots managed to land safely, although they were showered with engine oil.
On 14 June 1940, an Aero Junkers Ju52-3/mge aircraft flying from Tallinn to Helsinki was shot down by two Soviet bombers over the Gulf of Finland. ^[5] There is strong evidence the plane was carrying secret documents away from Tallinn.
On 3 January 1961, a DC-3 that was being flown by alcohol-intoxicated and sleep-deprived pilots crashed in Koivulahti, Finland (Kvevlax in Swedish), with a loss of all 25 on board. ^[6] The accident remains the worst in Finnish aviation history.
On 8 November 1963, a DC-3 crash that was attributed to a malfunctioning altimeter occurred on approach to Mariehamn, Åland Islands in a poor visibility, with a loss of 22 passengers and crew. ^[7]