Finnair celebrates 80th Birthday

Finnair, which celebrates its 80th birthday on Saturday, November 1st, is the world's fifth oldest airline. It was founded under the name Aero in 1923. The name Finnair has been around for the last 50 years. The company first used it in marketing in 1953 and then adopted it as its official name in 1968.

Aero made its first flight in 1924 from Helsinki to Tallinn transporting 162 kilos of mail. The airline's home base was Katajanokka Aerodrome, from where Junkers flew in winter on skis and in summer on floats. By the late 1930s there were already flight connections from Helsinki to nearly all the capitals of Europe. With the opening of airfields in different parts of Finland, Aero also began to build a domestic route network. In 1947 cabin attendants made their first appearance on flights.

Today Finnair has one of Europe's densest domestic networks and has direct scheduled passenger flights to around 30 foreign destinations, of which the newest, Shanghai, opened in September. There are more than 60 leisure-flight destinations as well and reliable cargo services still enjoy an important role. "During our long history we have carried a 150 million passengers which is a clear vote of trust from our customers", says President & CEO Keijo Suila, as the 80th anniversary of the company's founding approaches.

"In the future, the winners will be precisely those companies which are financially healthy, have a competitive cost structure and are able to give customers the best value for their money. In free competition, Finnair trusts in its success. Financially Finnair is one of the healthiest airlines, and objective indicators show that we are among the best in Europe in terms of quality. We are the most punctual airline and our flight regularity is among the best - which both are all very important to us. We want to maintain these high standards also in the years to come," says CEO Suila.

In honour of this special day, Finnair's Internet website (www.finnair.com) is offering flights at festive prices to different parts of the world. On flights, Finnair's birthday will be celebrated by announcements and a special 80th birthday cake will be served as a dessert in business class. A 20 minute-long programme on Finnair's history in Finnish and English will also be shown on leisure flights and on long-haul routes.

This year is also important for the whole of aviation, because the Wright brothers' first powered flight took place one hundred years ago, on December 17, 1903.