Finnair

History

Founding

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.

World War II

Air raids on Helsinki and other Finnish cities made World War II a difficult period for the airline. Half of 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.

Immediate postwar period

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.

Jet Age (1960s and 1970s)

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, later between Helsinki and Las Palmas.

Finnair created Finnaviation in June 1979. It was formed from the reorganisation of Wihuri OY Finnwings (which had started services in 1950 as Lentohuolto OY) and its merger with Nordair OY. Scheduled domestic services began in October 1979. In the early 1980s, Finnair held a 60% shareholding. In September 1996 Finnaviation was completely merged into Finnair.

Expansion (1980s)

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 (as 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 operating a flight from Helsinki to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

Subsidiary airlines (1990s–2000s)

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.

In 2006, Finnair ordered 11 Airbus A350 aircraft including an additional 8 options, with deliveries starting in 2015.

Labour disputes and restructuring (2006–present)

Finnair has suffered from many labour disputes in this period, 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.

As of 2022, it transported about 2.9 million passengers, a substantial decrease from 2019 as COVID-19 pandemic shut down airports and airlines due to travel restrictions. At the end of 2022, the airline employed 5,325 people on average. From 2022 onwards, the Russian airspace closure resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced Finnair to suspend some services to Asia.

In March 2023, Finnair announced it would terminate domestic flights from both Tampere and Turku to Helsinki in favour of coach service due to low demand and the short distance.

Corporate affairs

Business trends

The key trends for Finnair are shown below (for each year ending 31 December):

Ownership and structure

The group's parent company is Finnair Plc, which is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange and domiciled in Helsinki at the registered address Tietotie 9, Vantaa.As of March 2026, the State of Finland is the majority shareholder with 55.68% of shares, in line with the States mandate to hold at least 50.10% of shares. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken is the second largest shareholder with 11.02%, whilst no other entity holds more than 3% of shares.

Head office

Finnair's head office, known as the House of Travel and Transportation (or "HOTT"), is located on the grounds of Helsinki Airport approximately 1 km south of the passenger terminal. The office opened in 2013, replacing the previous head office which stood on an adjacent lot. The mixed-use building has a total floor area of 70,000 square metres (750,000 sq ft) across seven floors, including 22,400 square metres (241,000 sq ft) of office space.

The previous airport head office had been in use since 1994, then replacing an office located in central Helsinki. The last Helsinki head office, designed by architect Aarne Ehojoki, opened in 1972. Finnair fully vacated the building in 2013, and in 2016, it was converted into rental storage units.

Subsidiaries and associates

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:

Helsinki Airport: Helsinki Airport is the main hub of Finnair Cargo. There is a new freight terminal at the airport, opened in the first half of 2017.

Brussels Airport: Finnair Cargo has used Brussels Airport as a secondary hub for freight operations. Now the cargo airline operates its flights from BRU in co-operation with DHL Aviation (EAT Leipzig).

London Heathrow Airport: Heathrow Airport is the most recent hub addition to Finnair Cargo's route network. In cooperation with IAG Cargo, Finnair operates to LHR daily with Airbus A350 to carry extra freight.

Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra) is 40% owned by Finnair. The airline uses a fleet of ATR 72-500 aircraft, leased from Finnair, and Embraer E190 aircraft, both 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.

Corporate image

The company revealed a new livery in December 2010. Major changes include a restyled and larger lettering on the aircraft body, repainting of the engines in white, and a reversal of the colour scheme for the tail fin favouring a white background with a blue stylised logo. The outline of the globe was also removed from the tail fin.

The current uniform was designed by Ritva-Liisa Pohjalainen and launched in December 2011. Finnair has codes to indicate the rank of crew members: one stripe in the sleeve (or epaulettes in the case of male crew wearing vests) for normal Cabin Crew, two stripes for Senior Cabin Crew (only for outsourced Spanish crew) acting as a Purser, and three stripes for a Purser/Chief Purser. Additionally, some female Pursers have a white vertical stripe on their dresses or blouses indicating their years of service. Finnair requires its cabin crew to wear gloves during take-off and landing for safety reasons. Finnair's previous cabin crew uniform was named the fifth most stylish uniform by the French magazine Bon Voyage.

Partnerships

Finnair has several partnerships with following companies and airlines including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Deutsche Bahn (DB), Chinese JD.com, Japan Airlines and Marimekko.

Joint ventures

Finnair has joint venture agreements with the following airlines:

Codeshare agreements

Finnair codeshares with the following airlines:

Interline agreements

Finnair has interline agreements with the following airlines:

Destinations

Finnair flies from its Helsinki hub to over 80 destinations in over 35 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. Finnair also serves six destinations in the United States. Previously, the airline has served Africa and South America, including countries such as Egypt, Colombia and Brazil, but primarily on a leisure basis. Finnair has over 10 domestic destinations. Domestic flights are operated in co-operation with the airline's subsidiary Nordic Regional Airlines.

In 2021, Finnair opened five routes from Stockholm–Arlanda to Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi and Phuket in Thailand, as well as New York–JFK, Miami and Los Angeles in the United States. Those routes have been discontinued.

On 28 February 2022, Russia closed its airspace as a countermeasure to EU airspace closure. This meant many changes to Finnair's Asian services, as most of Finnair's flights between Europe and Asia had used the shortest, fastest, and most environmentally sound route over Russia. In response, on 9 March 2022, flight AY073 departed from Helsinki to Tokyo Narita via the North Pole. Back in 1983, Finnair was the first airline to fly non-stop from Europe to Japan by flying over the North Pole – so operating in the polar region is not new to Finnair.

Finnair announced a new route to Dallas/Fort Worth in 2022. Finnair also reintroduced flights to Seattle/Tacoma in 2022.

Fleet

As of March 2026, Finnair operates an all-Airbus mainline fleet composed of the following aircraft:

As of March 2026, Nordic Regional Airlines operates the following aircraft for Finnair:

Aircraft types

Finnair received its first narrow-body aircraft manufactured by Airbus, the Airbus A321, on 28 January 1999. Now, the airline operates a fleet of up to 15 A321s. The first Airbus A319 aircraft was delivered to Finnair on 20 September 1999. Since then, Finnair has received 11 A319s, but three of them are now retired. Finnair utilises Airbus A319, A320, and A321 aircraft on domestic and European flights. The Airbus A321-231 aircraft, which are equipped with Sharklets, are also used on some thinner long-haul flights such as to Dubai. ATR 72-500 and Embraer E190 are operated by Nordic Regional Airlines and are also used on domestic and European flights.

Finnair received its first batch of Airbus A330-300s on 27 March 2009. Now the airline has eight of them in its fleet. As of July 2023, the airline utilises the A330 on intercontinental flights from Helsinki to Delhi, Mumbai, New York, Chicago, Seattle and Doha. The A330s are powered by General Electric CF6-80E1 engines. The aircraft are also being used on European services to Brussels and Amsterdam.

In 2006, Finnair placed an order for 11 Airbus A350 aircraft with 8 additional options. On 3 December 2014, Finnair announced that it had exercised the option for eight additional A350 aircraft, with deliveries starting in 2018. Finnair took delivery of OH-LWA, its first A350, on 7 October 2015, becoming the third airline to operate the type after Qatar Airways and Vietnam Airlines. As of March 2026, Finnair has taken delivery of 18 A350 aircraft, with delivery of the 19th and final A350 scheduled for delivery in the latter half of 2026.

On 21 November 2016, the first intercontinental Finnair A350 service left Helsinki for Shanghai as AY57. Finnair mainly deploys the A350 on intercontinental routes, such as Helsinki to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Nagoya, Osaka, Phuket, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita. Additionally, Finnair frequently operates the A350 on intra-European routes, such as Helsinki to London–Heathrow (AY1331/AY1332 and AY1337/AY1338) and Helsinki to Gran Canaria (AY1721/AY1722) for added passenger and/or freight capacity and range. The A350 also operates, albeit seldomly, flights from Helsinki to Amsterdam, Munich and Brussels.

Fleet development

Due to an aging narrow-body fleet, Finnair plans to retire the Airbus A320 family and replace them with new generation aircraft. The airline estimates to invest up to €4 billion in fleet renewal between 2020 and 2025. Revealed at its Capital Markets Day on November 12, 2019, Finnair plans to grow the size of its fleet from the current 83 (as of November 2019) to approximately 100 by 2025, of which 70% is planned to be narrow-body aircraft and 30% wide-body aircraft. One-third of the total investment sum would be used for growth, while two-thirds would be to replace the current fleet. According to Bloomberg, Finnair will replace the old aircraft with either Airbus A320neo family or Boeing 737 MAX new generation aircraft. The carrier has also revealed that it is looking for suitable narrow-body aircraft for long-haul use.

On 18 December 2015, Finnair decided to improve the space efficiency of its current Airbus narrow-body fleet due to a growing need for feeder traffic capacity. The value of the investment is approximately EUR 40 million, and it includes 22 narrow-body Airbus aircraft in Finnair's fleet. The cabin layout change excludes five A321 aircraft, which are already configured according to the plan, having 209 seats. The cabin reconfiguration was estimated to take two weeks per aircraft during 2017. The reconfiguration adds 6 to 13 seats depending on the aircraft type, increasing the passenger capacity of Finnair's Airbus narrow-body fleet as measured by available seat kilometres by close to 4 percent. Finnair also planned to increase its narrow-body fleet. As a first step, Finnair leased eight Airbus A321 narrow-body aircraft from BOC Aviation.

Finnair has occasionally suffered from aircraft shortages and therefore has resorted to leased and wet-leased aircraft. For instance, in March 2016, Finnair announced it would lease two Airbus A321 aircraft from Air Berlin for Finnair's European operations. These two aircraft were delivered in late April 2016 to Finnair. The airline used these A321s on flights from Helsinki to Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Ljubljana, Paris, Split, Vienna, and Zürich. On 15 December 2016, Finnair announced it would lease two Airbus A321s from CDB Aviation Lease Finance. The first aircraft was scheduled for delivery to Finnair for the 2017-2018 winter season and the second for the 2018 summer season. Seven of the ordered aircraft were delivered in 2017.

The Finnair-branded short-haul network also includes 24 regional aircraft operated by Nordic Regional Airlines (12 ATR 72 and 12 E-190). In March 2026, Finnair ordered 18 new Embraer E195-E2 aircraft and used Airbus A320ceo to replace retired Airbus A320 fleet. The contract includes 16 options and 12 purchase rights, potentially bringing the E2-fleet to 46 aircraft. Finnair will source 12 A320 aircraft over the next few years. The younger aircraft will replace five A319ceos, with an average age of 24,8 years, plus the oldest A320ceos.

Special liveries

Finnair has a long tradition of cooperation with the Finnish design house Marimekko, which can be seen both inside and outside of Finnair's aircraft. Two aircraft, OH-LTO and OH-LWL, are currently painted in the Unikko (poppy) and Kivet (stones) patterns respectively.

The Marimekko Metsänväki (forest folk) pattern was painted on an Airbus A330 registration OH-LTM, but was removed after the pattern was revealed to be a copy.

Elements of Finnish culture, such as Christmas, Finnish nature, the Moomins and Angry Birds have been featured in special liveries on Finnair aircraft.

Historical fleet

Finnair has previously operated the following equipment:

Finnair gallery

In livery chronological order

Finnaviation subsidiary historic fleet

In the early 1980s, the fleet of the Finnaviation subsidiary consisted of: an Aero Commander 690, a Beech 95-A55 Baron, Cessna F150J (2), a Cessna 401B, a Cessna F172M, a Cessna 401A, Cessna 404 Titan (2), a Cessna 441 Conquest, a Cessna 402B, a Cessna 425 Corsair, a Cessna F172P, Cessna F152 (2), Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (3), a Dassault Falcon 200, a Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, a Piper PA-32-300 Cherokee Six and a Cessna T188C Husky.

Cabins

Business class

Business class is offered on the entire Airbus fleet. On long-haul aircraft, the seats are equipped with personal in-flight entertainment. Zodiac Cirrus III seats are fitted in business class on all wide-body aircraft. Each seat has direct aisle access and reclines to a 78-inch full flat bed. In February 2022, Finnair unveiled new long-haul business class seats, alongside the debut of a premium economy cabin. The seats are based on the Collins Aerospace's Aerospace AirLounge. The seats are enclosed in a shell with no recline capabilities. According to the airline, this allows passengers to choose a wide variety of sitting and sleeping positions.

Premium Economy class

Premium economy, Finnair's newest class of service, was introduced in February 2022. It is currently rolled out on the Airbus A330s and A350s. The seats are based on the Vector Premium by HAECO.

In-flight magazine

Finnair's English-language in-flight magazine, Blue Wings, was published 10 times a year. The first edition of Blue Wings magazine was published in 1980. It was discontinued in 2020 and is now available online in Finnish and English. Domestic and international newspapers are available online on Finnair Nordic Sky portal during flights. As of 2023, Blue Wings has been reintroduced in physical form for Finnair's centenary year and the years to come.

Environmental efforts

In December 2018, Finnair flights out of SFO began being supplied with sustainable aviation fuel as part of a project involving SFO, Shell, and SkyNRG.

Incidents and accidents

On 28 May 1927, Junkers F.13 K-SALA crashed into Tallinn harbor inbound from Helsinki; all five on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.

On 16 November 1927, Junkers F.13 K-SALD disappeared en route from Tallinn to Helsinki. The pilot and his two passengers were never found.

On 10 July 1928, Junkers F.13 K-SALB crashed in the Gulf of Finland; all six on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.

On 9 October 1935, Junkers F.13 OH-ALI crashed in the Gulf of Finland in fog, killing all six on board.

On 10 November 1937, a Junkers Ju 52 en route from Turku to Stockholm suffered the detachment of the nose-engine whilst over the sea. The pilots managed to successfully land the aircraft with no fatalities. A broken propeller blade resulted in a severe imbalance that tore the engine off.

On 14 June 1940, Ju 52/3mge OH-ALL Kaleva, operating as Flight 1631, was shot down by the Soviet Air Force over the Gulf of Finland, apparently as a prelude to the Occupation of Estonia. All nine people on board died.

On 7 November 1941, Ju 52/3mce OH-LAK Sampo made an emergency landing in the Gulf of Finland off Turku after all three engines quit due to fuel impurity. Although the aircraft was recovered and returned to service, the two occupants of the aircraft drowned while attempting to swim to safety. OH-LAK would be lost after a 1945 accident.

On 31 October 1945, Ju 52 OH-LAK struck power lines and crashed in a forest while performing a radio-controlled approach to Hyvinkää. Radio signals were distorted by high-tension wires and the aircraft descended too low. All 14 people on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.

On 3 January 1961, Flight 311 from Kronoby to Vaasa flown by a Douglas DC-3 stalled on final approach and crashed at Kvevlax, killing all 25 people on board. Both pilots were drunk and sleep deprived. This remains Finland's worst aviation accident.