Finnair

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</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Hubs</th><td>Helsinki-Vantaa Airport</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Frequent flyer program</th><td>Finnair Plus</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Member lounge</th><td>Finnair Lounge</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Alliance</th><td>Oneworld</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Parent company</th><td>Finnair Group</td></tr>

Finnair
IATA AY	ICAO FIN	Callsign Finnair
Founded		1923
Fleet size		50
Destinations		66
Headquarters		Vantaa, Finland
Key people		Jukka Hienonen (CEO)
Website: http://www.finnair.com

Image:Finnair.a320-200.oh-lxf.arp.jpg

Image:Finnair MD-11 EFHK.jpg

Finnair is Finland's biggest airline and the national flag carrier. Its main hub is Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and its headquarters are located in Vantaa, Finland. 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 2005, the airline transported 8.5 million passengers. Its route network covers 16 domestic and about 55 international destinations, in addition there are about 50 seasonal charter-flight destinations. As of 2006, the airline has not had a fatal accident since 1963, 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
- 4.1 Levels
5 Finnair Lounges
- 5.1 Locations
6 Onboard Entertainment
- 6.1 Blue Wings
7 Codeshares
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, and 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 12 September 1923 and the company was entered into the trade register on 11 December 1923. The first flight was flown on 20 March 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 1 November 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 exhanged 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 25 June 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 15 May 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 Dec. 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 25 September 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 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 intercontinentally to Asia and North America, and is now extending its European operations along with the introduction of the Embraer jets. The domestic operations are carried out in cooperation with the Estonian-based subsidiary Aero and Finncomm Airlines, operating an ATR and an ATR/Embraer fleet, respectively.

[edit] Fleet

[edit] Current Fleet

Image:Finnair 757 EFHK.jpg

Image:Finnair E170 EFHK.jpg Image:Finnair A340 EFHK.jpg The Finnair fleet consists of the following aircraft:<ref>Flight International, 3-9 October 2006</ref>

**Finnair Fleet**
Type	Number	Passengers	Routes	Notes
Airbus A319-100	11	105-126
Airbus A320-200	12	124-150		A new cabin version for the A320 fleet will be phased during the winter season 2006-2007. It will feature 159 seats.
Airbus A321-200	6	154-181
Airbus A340-300	1 (4 Orders)	269 (42/227) 295(42/253)
Airbus A350-900	(9 Orders)
Boeing 757-200	6	227	Charter and Leisure Flights Only	OH-LBR received winglets in Nov 2006. The whole B757 fleet will eventually get them.
McDonnell Douglas MD-11	7	282 (36/246)		(OH-LGG is now registered as a standard MD-11)
Embraer 170-100LR	10	76
Embraer 190-100LR	(10 Orders)	100

[edit] Retired Fleet

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

On 30 June 2004 Finnair announced an order for twelve 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft plus 8 options. On 2 December 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. <ref>Embraer orders</ref> <ref>Embraer conversion of options to orders</ref>

On 7 December 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.<ref>A350 order</ref>

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

[edit] Finnair Plus

Finnair Plus is Finnair's frequent flyer programme. Its unit is a point, and passengers are awarded points based on the type and class of flight flown.

[edit] Levels

Finnair Plus Basic (the starting level)
Finnair Plus Junior (Finnair plus for minors)
Finnair Plus Silver for basic members who fly 60,000 points of 18 return flights abroad inside one year.(Equivalent to Oneworld Ruby)
Finnair Plus Gold for Silver members who fly 120,000 points or 42 return flights overseas in 12 months. (Equivalent to Oneworld Sapphire)
Finnair Plus Platinum for Gold members who fly 300,000 points or 85 return flights abroad in 24 months. (Equivalent to Oneworld Emerald)

See: Partners of Finnair Plus

[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] Onboard Entertainment

[edit] Blue Wings

Image:Blue Wings Cover.png Finnair's inflight magazine, Blue Wings, is a published ten times per year by Finnish media company SanomaWSOY, and can be found in the seatback pockets of every seat. 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 on board shop and route information.

Passengers can take the magazine with them when they disembark their flights. There are also a selection of domestic and international newspapers on all flights, and selection of various magazines on long-haul flights in the business class.

[edit] Codeshares

The routes operated by Finnair to/from Helsinki for partner airlines:

Operated for	Destinations to/from Helsinki
Air China Image:Flag of China.svg	Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai-Pudong
Air France Image:Flag of France.svg	Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Oulu, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Tampere, Turku, Vaasa
Aeroflot Image:Flag of Russia.svg	Moscow-Sheremetyevo
American Airlines Image:Flag of the United States.svg	Frankfurt, London-Heathrow, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Zürich
British Airways Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg	London-Heathrow, Manchester, Oulu, Riga, Tallinn, Tampere, Turku, Vilnius
Iberia Image:Flag of Spain.svg	Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Oulu, Madrid, Tampere, Turku
Japan Airlines Image:Flag of Japan.svg	Amsterdam, Frankfurt
Malév Image:Flag of Hungary.svg	Budapest
Rossiya Russian Airlines Image:Flag of Russia.svg	St. Petersburg
Brussels Airlines Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg	Brussels
Qantas Image:Flag of Australia.svg	Bangkok, London-Heathrow, Singapore, Vienna, Warsaw, Zürich

[edit] Incidents and Accidents

On 14 June 1940, an Aero Junkers Ju52-3/mge aircraft flying from Tallinn to Helsinki was shot down in a time of peace by two Soviet bombers over the Gulf of Finland. <ref>1940 Ju 52 crash</ref> 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 intoxicated pilots violating procedures crashed in Koivulahti, Finland (Kvevlax in Swedish), with a loss of all 25 on board. <ref>1961 DC-3 crash</ref> The accident remains the worst in Finnish aviation history to date.
On 8 November 1963, a DC-3 crash that was officially attributed to a malfunctioning altimeter occurred on approach to Mariehamn, Åland Islands in a poor visibility, with a loss of 22 passengers and crew. <ref>1963 DC-3 crash</ref>