And yet Finnair has become one of the main carriers between Europe and Asia, a real niche market for the Finnish airline. "There are 40 million passengers between the two continents, including 20 million connecting passengers. It's one of the world's fastest-growing markets, and one in which we have a real edge".says Finnair management in Helsinki.
The Finnish capital, at the northernmost tip of Europe, is in fact the continent's closest city to the Orient as the crow flies, with average flight times of seven to nine hours. What's more, the airport guarantees transit times of just 40 minutes.
Finnair carries 1.45 million passengers between Europe and Asia, which accounts for almost 15% of its turnover, and the company aims to double these figures by 2020. Finnair already serves 11 Asian destinations. It is the only European airline to land in Chongqing and one of the few to still be in Nagoya. It would appear that priority is currently being given to Kuala Lumpur because of the future partnership with Malaysia Airlines, which is due to join the Oneworld alliance. The airline's management is also talking about Vietnam, Fukuoka in Japan and is studying the market in Taipei and Jakarta. But we will probably have to wait until 2015, when the Airbus A350s enter service.
