‘Shall We Visit Santa Village at Christmas?’ An Airline Truly Dedicated to Korea

Finnair Celebrates 100th Anniversary
Increases Incheon-Helsinki Flights and Develops Santa Village Tour Packages
"Gimhae-Helsinki Route Faces Economic Challenges"
Korean Crew Nearly Doubled to 4 Members Onboard

Finnair, the Finnish national airline, announced on the 9th that it plans to increase the number of flights between Incheon and Helsinki. Starting from mid-month, it will strengthen customer service by deploying up to four Korean flight attendants. The launch of a new Gimhae-Helsinki route has been delayed due to difficulties in profitability aside from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ole Over, Finnair's CCO (Chief Commercial Officer), said in an interview with our newspaper after a press conference held at Lotte Hotel Seoul on the 9th to mark the company's 100th anniversary, “Although there are constraints, we are considering additional flights to Seoul (Incheon International Airport) due to high demand for travel to Northern Europe.” Currently, Finnair operates one flight daily between Incheon and Helsinki. In other words, they are considering increasing the number of flights to twice a day or more. He also expressed great interest in developing travel products related to Rovaniemi, a Finnish city known as the home of Santa Claus. He said, “There is a well-established system connecting Helsinki with other cities, and we are seriously considering expanding that system to Rovaniemi.”

Finland's national airline Finnair held a press conference to celebrate its 100th anniversary and took a commemorative photo. From the second left are Jenni Suomela, Vice President of Global Sales & Channel Operations at Finnair; Ole Over, Senior Vice President of Commercial Division; and Kim Dong-hwan, Head of the Korea Branch.
[Photo by Finnair]

However, the new Gimhae-Helsinki route, originally scheduled to launch in March 2020, is still planned but has been delayed due to various issues. This route would have been the first direct European flight departing from the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions. Over CCO said, “If we add a Korean route, this will be our top priority,” but added, “The closure of Russian airspace preventing the use of the Arctic route and the current flight time being over 40% longer than before significantly affect profitability.” Finnair is not considering charter or irregular flights through travel agencies.

Kim Dong-hwan, head of Finnair's Korea branch, said that while the closure of Russian airspace due to the Russia-Ukraine war affects the route's resumption, the unique characteristics of Gimhae International Airport also pose challenges. Kim explained that when operating this route, 35 seats per flight (10% of total seats) must be left empty to clear the mountains surrounding Gimhae Airport, and no cargo can be loaded at all. He added, “As flight time increases, more seats must be left empty to fly longer, and more fuel must be loaded, so flights often operate at only half capacity.”

He also promised to enhance services for Korean passengers. This year alone, 27 Korean flight attendants have been hired, bringing the total number of Korean crew members working for the company to 53. Previously, only two Korean attendants boarded the Incheon-Helsinki route, but from mid-month, four Korean flight attendants will be on board. This differs from most foreign airlines, which usually assign only two.

Additionally, since September, Finnair has deployed aircraft with renewed cabins, including the introduction of premium economy seats, on the Incheon-Helsinki route. Finnair is investing 270 billion KRW to refurbish the cabins of its A350 aircraft. They have added 26 premium economy seats, which are wider than standard economy seats, and have also introduced new equipment for business class seats.

Finnair also plans to further expand its route network to serve as a “gateway to Europe,” not only for Korea. Over CCO said that by next summer, they will add four more aircraft and aggressively increase the number of flights to European cities such as Manchester in the UK, Hamburg in Germany, Dublin in Ireland, as well as to Scandinavian cities including Reykjavik in Iceland. He added, “We also plan to launch new routes to Portugal, the Canary Islands in Spain, and Nagoya in Japan.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.