FOCUS ON Finnair Celebrating 90 years
This year marks the 90th anniversary of Finnair’s first commercial flight. Onboard Hospitality looks at how the airline has advanced to offer a distinctive Finnish style to its onboard service
I
t was 90 years ago when a Junkers F13 D-335 seaplane transported 162 kilogrammes of mail from Katajanokka
in Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia, making March 20, 1924 the official anniversary of Finnair’s maiden flight. The company, then Aero Oy (from 1923), ended the seaplane service in 1936, following the construction of the first aerodromes in Finland, but it was not until 1953 that it was branded as Finnair with the acquisition of a faster, twin- engined pressurised airliner. Now the flag carrier and largest
airline in Finland, Finnair operates 43 aircraft to over 60 worldwide destinations. Today, a Finnair aircraft flies somewhere in the world every hour of the year! Continuing to advance, Finnair is
now considered one of the safest airlines in the world and was acknowledged for being the world’s most punctual airline in four different months last year, and second-most punctual airline over-all in 2013. “Our operations have expanded substantially since our modest beginnings. Over time, we have also increased cooperation with partners such as Flybe in the UK. Finnair has become a network airline known to all Finns, with operations recognised as world-class,” says Finnair’s ceo Ville Iho. Continuing to innovate, Finnair’s recent milestones include the launch of new routes to Xi’an and Hanoi; becoming the first airline in the world to take delivery of
Pictured: Celebrity chefs Pekka Terävä and Tomi Björck (centre) are the creative forces behind Finnair's new Signature Menus
new A321 Sharklet aircraft, and renewed inflight dining options in Business. As part of this meal service renewal, last year Finnair introduced new Signature Menus created by well-known Finnish chefs Pekka
Terävä and Tomi Björck. “My menu is influenced by the purity
of Finnish nature, taking advantage of Finnish natural ingredients such as seasonal vegetables and wild game and fish,” says Terävä, whose Business class menu includes Finnish specialities such as reindeer fillet with mushroom puree, oven- baked potatoes and organic barley. Finnair is set to enter a joint business on EU-Japan traffic with fellow oneworld partners British Airways and Japan Airlines later this year, while also continuing the retrofit of its wide-body fleet with seats in Business that convert to full-flat beds. Plans for 2015 include Finnair becoming the first European airline to operate the next-generation Airbus A350 XWB.
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