Finnair informations and photos

Finnair (Finnish: Finnair Oyj, Swedish: Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international air travel in Finland. Its major shareholder is the government of Finland, which owns 55.8% of the shares. Finnair is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. In 2017, it transported about 11.9 million passengers to over 100 European, 20 Asian and 7 North American destinations. At the end of 2017, the airline employed 5,918 people.

Finnair is the sixth oldest airline in continuous operation. With no fatal or hull-loss accidents since 1963, Finnair is consistently listed as one of the safest airlines in the world. In 2018 it was the safest in the world according to Hamburg aviation security office JACDEC and an aviation magazine Aero International. The company slogans are Designed for you and
The Nordic Way.

In 1923, consul Bruno Lucander founded Finnair as Aero O/Y (Aero Ltd). The company code, "AY", stands for Aero Osake-yhtiö ("yhtiö" means "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 12 September 1923, and the company was entered into the trade register on 11 December 1923. The first flight was on 20 March 1924 from Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia, on a Junkers F.13 aircraft equipped with floats. The seaplane service ended in 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. Half the fleet was requisitioned by the Finnish Air Force and it was estimated that, during the Winter War in 1939 and 1940, half of the airline's passengers from other Finnish cities were children being evacuated to Sweden.

The Finnish government wanted longer routes, so it acquired a majority stake in the company in 1946 and re-established services to Europe in November 1947, initially using the Douglas DC-3. In 1953, the airline began branding itself as Finnair. The Convair 440 twin-engined pressurised airliner was acquired from January 1953 and these faster aircraft were operated on the company's longer routes as far as London.

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 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 the 1960s, Finnair's head office was in Helsinki.

Finnair received its first wide-body aircraft in 1975, two DC-10-30 planes. The first of these arrived on 4 February 1975, and entered service on 14 February 1975, flying between Helsinki and New York, and later between Helsinki and Las Palmas.

Finnair created Finnaviation was established in 1979. It was formed from the reorganisation of Wihuri OY Finnwings (which had started services in 1950 as Lentohuolto OY) and its merging with Nordair OY. Scheduled domestic services began in October 1979. In the early 1980s Finnair held a 60% shareholding. Finnaviation was eventually completely merged into Finnair.

In 1981, Finnair opened routes to Seattle and Los Angeles. Finnair became the first operator to fly non-stop from Western Europe to Japan, operating Helsinki–Tokyo flights with a modified McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30ER in April 1983. Until then, flights had to go via Moscow (Aeroflot, SAS, BA) or Anchorage (most carriers) due to Soviet airspace restrictions, but Finnair circumvented these by flying directly north from Helsinki, over the North Pole and back south through the Bering Strait, avoiding Soviet airspace. However, Finnair did not have to make a roundabout because of the Soviet regulation on this route, but the Japanese authorities demanded it (what JAL requested strongly). The aircraft was fitted with extra fuel tanks, taking 13 hours for the trip. The routes through Soviet airspace and with a stopover in Moscow also took 13 hours, but flights with a stopover in 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 nonstop Paris-Tokyo services over Soviet airspace, putting Finnair at a disadvantage.

Finnair launched a Helsinki-Beijing route in 1988, 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 7 December 1990. The first revenue service with the MD-11 took place on 20 December 1990, with OH-LGA[discuss] operating a flight from Helsinki to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

In 1997, the subsidiaries Kar-Air and Finnaviation became wholly owned by Finnair, and were integrated into the mainline operations. On 25 September 1997, the company's official name was changed to Finnair Oyj.

In 1999, Finnair joined the Oneworld airline alliance. In 2001, Finnair reused the name "Aero" when establishing Aero Airlines, a subsidiary airline based in Tallinn, Estonia.

In 2003, Finnair acquired ownership of the Swedish low-cost airline, FlyNordic, which operated mainly within Scandinavia. In 2007, Finnair sold all its shares in FlyNordic to Norwegian Air Shuttle. As part of the transaction, Finnair acquired 4.8% of the latter company, becoming its third largest shareholder. Finnair later sold their shares in 2013.

On 8 March 2007, Finnair became the first airline to order the Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, placing an order for 11 Airbus A350 XWB (plus 8 options), with delivery started in 2015.

Finnair has suffered from many labour disputes in this period,[when?] resulting from cost-cutting measures prompted by competition from budget airlines.

On 1 December 2011, Finnair transferred its baggage and apron services to Swissport International as per a five-year agreement signed on 7 November 2011.

The group's parent company is Finnair Plc, which is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange, and is domiciled in Helsinki at the registered address Tietotie 9, Vantaa.
The State of Finland is the major shareholder (55.8%), with no other shareholder owning more than 5% of shares.

Two subsidiary companies, Finnair Cargo Oy and Finnair Cargo Terminal Operations Oy, form Finnair's cargo business. The offices of both companies are at Helsinki Airport. Finnair Cargo uses Finnair's fleet on its cargo operations.

Finnair Cargo has three hubs:

Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra) is 40% owned by Finnair. The airline uses a fleet of ATR 72-500 aircraft in its own livery, leased from Finnair, and Embraer E190 aircraft, painted in Finnair livery. The airline began operations on 20 October 2011 as a joint venture between Flybe and Finnair. The airline has operated under Finnair's flight code since 1 May 2015.

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