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| Founded | 1 November 1923[1] | |||
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| Hubs | Helsinki Airport | |||
| Frequent-flyer program | Finnair Plus | |||
| Airport lounge | Finnair Lounge | |||
| Alliance | Oneworld | |||
| Fleet size | 66 (+17 Orders) | |||
| Destinations | 63 | |||
| Company slogan | Designed for you | |||
| Parent company | Office of the Council of State[2] | |||
| Headquarters | Tietotie 11A Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Vantaa, Finland[3] |
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| Key people | Mika Vehviläinen (President & CEO)[4] | |||
| Website | www.finnair.com | |||
Finnair Plc (Finnish: Finnair Oyj, Swedish: Finnair Abp)[5] is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters on the grounds of Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland, and its main hub at Helsinki Airport. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both the domestic and international air travel markets in Finland. The largest owner is the government of Finland with 55.8% of the shares. Finnair is a member of the Oneworld airline 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. Skytrax ranks Finnair as a 4-star airline.[6]
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In 1923, consul Bruno Lucander founded Finnair as Aero O/Y (Aero Ltd). The company code originates from this AY = Aero Yhtiö i.e. company in Finnish. 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.
Air raids on Helsinki and other Finnish cities made World War II a difficult period for the airline. 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 for evacuation 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, it began branding itself as Finnair. In 1961, Finnair joined the jet age by adding Rolls-Royce Avon-engined Caravelles to its fleet. These were later exchanged with the manufacturer for Pratt & Whitney JT8D-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 the 1960s Finnair's head office was in Helsinki.[7]
Finnair received its first widebody aircraft in 1975, two DC-10-30 aircraft. The first of these arrived on February 4, 1975 and entered service on February 14, 1975 with service from Helsinki to Las Palmas.
In 1979 Finnair established a subsidiary company Finnaviation for domestic operations, with a 60% stake.[8]
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. Up until then, flights either had to go via Moscow (Aeroflot, SAS, BA) or Anchorage (most carriers),[9] but Finnair circumvented this requirement by flying directly north from Helsinki, over the North Pole and back south through the Bering Strait, avoiding the Soviet airspace.[10] The aircraft was also fitted with extra fuel tanks, taking 13 hours for the trip.[11] The routes through Soviet airspace and with a stopover in Moscow took the same 13 hours, but flights with a stopover at Anchorage took up to 16 hours, giving Finnair a competitive edge. In the spring of 1986, Soviet regulators finally cleared the way for Air France and Japan Airlines to fly non-stop Paris-Tokyo services over Soviet airspace, putting Finnair at a disadvantage.[12]
In 1988, Finnair launched a Helsinki-Beijing route, making Finnair the first Western European carrier to fly non-stop between Europe and China.
In 1989 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. In 2007, Finnair sold all its shares in FlyNordic to Norwegian Air Shuttle. As part of the transaction, Finnair has acquired 4.8% of Norwegian, becoming its third largest shareholder.
The State of Finland is the controlling shareholder (57.04%).[13] Finnair's stock is listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. As of March 2007, the airline employed 9,447 staff.[13] Finnair is the sixth oldest airline in the world with uninterrupted existence. With no fatal or hull-loss accidents since 1963, it has also been ranked one of the safest airlines in the world.[14]
On September 18, 2011, Finnair began negotiations to transfer all of their baggage and apron services to Swissport. They are planning to conclude the negotiations by the end of 2011. According to Finnair’s Chief Operating Officer Ville Iho, Finnair is hoping to "aim for even better quality and cost-efficiency". If Swissport and Finnair reach an agreement, the employees currently working for Barona Handling, the company that handles Finnair's ramp operations at their Helsinki hub, would be transferred to Swissport, under their current terms of employment.[15]
From its Helsinki-Vantaa base Finnair flies to Asia and North America, and is now extending its European operations with the introduction of Embraer jets. The domestic operations are partly carried out in cooperation with Finncomm Airlines, operating an ATR/Embraer fleet.
Finnair has codeshare agreements with the following airlines, beside Oneworld members:
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As of October 2011, the Finnair fleet consists of the following aircraft:[16][17][18]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Y |
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| Airbus A319-100 | 11 | — | 0 | 123 | 123 | OH-LVE painted in a retro scheme OH-LVF painted in Oneworld livery |
| Airbus A320-200 | 12 | — | 0 | 159 | 159 | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 196 | 196 | Deliveries in 2013[19] |
| Airbus A330-200 | 1 | — | 42 | 288 | 330 | Leased from Hi Fly for winter 2011/12[20] |
| Airbus A330-300 | 4 | — | 42 | 229 | 271 | OH-LTM, -LTN, -LTO, -LTP[21] |
| 1 | 45 | 218 | 263 | OH-LTR[22] | ||
| 3 | 32 | 265 | 297 | OH-LTS, -LTT, -LTU[23] | ||
| Airbus A340-300 | 7 | — | 42 | 227 | 269 | OH-LQE painted in Oneworld livery |
| Airbus A350-900 | — | 11 | TBA | 315 | Deliveries in 2014[24] | |
| Boeing 757-200 | 4 | — | 0 | 227 | 227 | Operated mostly on charter flights |
| Embraer E-170 | 5 | — | 0 | 76 | 76 | |
| Embraer E-190 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 100 | OH-LKN painted in Oneworld livery |
| Total | 66 | 17 | ||||
Finnair Plus is Finnair's frequent-flyer programme. Passengers are awarded points based on the type and class of flight flown. Once enough miles are banked into the passenger's account, a membership tier (Basic, Silver, Gold or Platinum) is awarded. There is a Junior tier exclusively for minors. Silver, Gold, and Platinum members have privileges such as premium check-in desks and priority boarding.
Finnair offers frequent-flyer partnerships with the following airlines, in addition to those in the Oneworld alliance:
In addition to earning points on flights with Finnair and its partner airlines, Finnair Plus members can earn points through various hotel and car rental partners in Finland and around the world along with other service partners, such as Translizer who awards Finnair Plus points on translation services purchases.
Finnair operates lounges at two airports:
The remaining international destinations are served with contract lounges.
Finnair's in-flight magazine, Blue Wings, is published 10 times per year by the Finnish media group Sanoma, in English and Finnish. 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 on-board shop and route information. There are domestic and international newspapers on all flights and magazines on long-haul flights in business class.
On most European flights, a cold salad or sandwich is served, together with non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages and additional food items are available for purchase. Domestic flights as well as shorter European flights have snacks for sale and free non-alcoholic beverages. Business class offers warm meals and free beverages, including alcohol. On most Intercontinental flights there is a choice of meals in economy class. In inter-continental business class on most Airbus aircraft (excluding those with fully lie-flat seats), there is dedicated snack bar.[26]
All Finnair aircraft have LCD video monitors or personal entertainment systems except the Embraer 170s and 190s. Airbus A320 series aircraft have monitors showing exterior shots, Moving-map systems and mute television programs. Airbus A330 and Airbus A340 aircraft have an AVOD personal entertainment system on all seats with about 34 movies, 100 TV shows, 60 music albums, 24 radio channels and 16 games.[27] The Boeing 757 has overhead monitors with Airshow map system, movies and TV shows in Economy class.[26]
Finnair has used special liveries including the "Moomins" and "Santa Claus", 1950s retro livery, Angry Birds and Oneworld. Finnair revealed a new livery in December 2010. Major changes include a restyled and larger lettering on the body, repainting of the engines in white, and a reversal of the color scheme for the tail fin favoring a white background with a blue stylized logo. The outline of the globe was also removed from the tail fin.[28]
Finnair cabin crew uniform was ranked as the fifth most stylish uniform by the French Bon Voyage magazine.[29] Finnair has codes to indicate the rank of crew member: one stripe in the sleeve means normal cabin attendant, two stripes means a service chef (this rank no longer bears any special role within the crew) and three stripes a purser. Male cabin crew wear ties with plane symbols on them and the pilots wear ties with compass symbols. Yellow ties and scarves are worn on leisure flights. Finnair requires its cabin attendants to wear gloves during take off or landing for safety reasons.
Finnair's head office is located at Tietotie 11 on the grounds of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Vantaa, Finland.[30]
Finnair will receive a new 70,000 square metres (750,000 sq ft) mixed-use head office, named the House of Travel and Transportation and located on a car park next to the current Finnair head office at Vantaa Airport. The facility will house 22,400 square metres (241,000 sq ft) of office space. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company will develop the head office, while SRV will build the facility. The architects will design the building to meet Leed Gold and energy Class A certificate standards. The companies involved did not disclose the monetary value of the planned complex. Construction began in July 2011 and will finish in June 2013.[31]
Prior to being in Vantaa, the head office was located in central Helsinki.[32] The company moved the head office there from central Helsinki in 1994. The company held a "house-warming" ceremony on 11 January 1994.[30]
Two subsidiary companies, Finnair Cargo Oy and Finnair Cargo Terminal Operations Oy, form Finnair's cargo business.[33] The offices of both companies are at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Vantaa, Finland.[34][35]
The company's only fatal accidents to date are the two DC-3 accidents in 1961 and 1963.
