is
Finland 's biggest
Airline and the national
Flag Carrier . Its main hub is
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Intl . Finnair and its
Subsidiary companies dominate both the domestic and international air travel markets in Finland. Finnair is a member of the
'''one'''world 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 at 2005 the airline has not had a fatal accident since 1963, ranking it the second-safest airline of all time.
Finnair was founded as (''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 shareholding in the company and re-established services to
Europe on
1 November 1947 . In
1953 , the name Finnair was adopted in the company's marketing strategy. In
1961 , Finnair joined the jet age by adding a
Caravelle to its fleet. In
1962 Finnair acquired a 27% controlling interest in another 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 opened on
15 May 1969 .
In
1975 , Finnair received its first
Wide-bodied Aircraft as the
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 entered into service. In 1979 it established its own domestic subsidiary company Finnaviation, with a 60% stake. In
1983 , Finnair became the first airline in the world to fly non-stop from Western Europe to
Japan as it started its Helsinki-
Tokyo flights with
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30ER aircraft. In
1988 , Finnair launched its Helsinki-
Beijing route, making Finnair the first Western European carrier to fly non-stop between Europe and
China .
In 1987 Finnair became a launch customer for the
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and the first MD-11 was delivered to Finnair on Dec. 7, 1990. Finnair's first revenue service with the MD-11 occurred on December 20, 1990, when the aircraft carried passengers from Helsinki to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Both Kar-Air and Finnaviation became wholly owned by Finnair and in 1997 were integrated into the mainline operations. 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 by founding
Aero Airlines , a start-up airline based in
Tallinn ,
Estonia . In
2003 Finnair acquired ownership of Swedish
Low-cost Airline ,
Flynordic , which operates within Scandinavia.
Finnair is owned by the State of Finland (58.42%) with other shareholders holding the rest of the stock. Finnair's stock is listed on the
Helsinki Stock Exchange . The airline employs 8,711 staff (at January 2005). Finnair is the fifth oldest still-operating airline company in the world.
''see full article:'' .
The Finnair fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of December
2005 ):
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 and they will eventually replace the McDonnell Douglas MD-82/83 fleet, having already replaced its
ATR 72 aircraft.
[http://www.embraer.com.br/institucional/download/2_111-Com-VPC-Finnair_Converts_Options-I-05.pdf
On and 3 options.
Finnair has also announced that it's adding one A340-300 aircraft from Virgin Atlantic to its long-haul fleet in June 2006. The extra capacity will be used on the new routes to Asia.
''See also:
List Of Finnish Companies ''
