Finnair Increases Service to Toronto

Finnair, the national carrier of Finland, will operate five non-stop flights per week between Toronto and Helsinki starting June 6, 2010. Finnair will offer all-economy class flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, leaving Toronto at 10:50 p.m., arriving in Helsinki at 2 p.m. the next afternoon. Return flights will depart Helsinki at 5:45 p.m., arriving in Toronto at 7:35 p.m. on the same day. This schedule will be in effect from June 6 to September 9, 2010.

As Michael Maass, Finnair's Sales Director for North America points out, "This particular schedule will be excellent for travelers who want to take the shortest route to Asia - via Helsinki. The Toronto flights will connect very well with our scheduled service to Bangkok, Beijing, Delhi, Hong Kong, Nagoya, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo."

"Many passengers already know about Finnair's excellent connections to multiple destinations in the Baltic countries and Russia - or for that matter, to almost anywhere in Europe," notes Maass. "Smart travelers love to travel via Helsinki since it allows them to bypass congested airports like Frankfurt or Paris. In addition to their actual time in the air, transfer times are usually much shorter!"

"We are thrilled to boost our flights from Toronto to five times per week next summer, an increase over years past," says Maass. "Passengers can already start booking their tickets on line at Finnair or by calling their travel agent for reservations."

If passengers from Toronto, Halifax, Montreal or other Canadian cities want to travel internationally prior to the start of the Toronto 2010 summer schedule, Finnair of course offers non-stop service from New York (JFK), as it has for the past forty years. "Do consider Finnair when you book your next trip," reminds Maass. "Sometimes flying via Helsinki to one of our European destinations such as Milan or Prague, or to one of our cities in the Far East such as Tokyo, Seoul or Beijing makes more sense, financially and from an environmental perspective, than via any other European gateway!"

Another reason to travel via Helsinki may be Helsinki Airport's recent win as the World's Best in Baggage Delivery according to the 2009 Skytrax World Airport Awards survey, where passengers were asked to evaluate their experiences with airport services. Over 190 airports all over the world participated in the survey. According to airport statistics, passengers at Helsinki Airport are able to claim their bags quickly, since roughly 87% of arriving flights are offloaded in less than 30 minutes. Notes Maass: "At Helsinki Airport most of our passengers pick up their bags in less than half an hour after their planes have landed. On average, the wait time at the baggage claim carousels is around 10-15 minutes."

Currently, Finnair's route network includes more than 50 international destinations, and 700 more through its cooperation with oneworld alliance partners.

About Finnair
Finnair was established in 1923, and its major shareholder is the Finnish government with a 55.8 % holding. From North America, Finnair offers non-stop flights from New York to Helsinki, Finland, connecting with its global network including more than 50 international destinations. In addition to passenger and cargo traffic, the Finnair Group operations cover technical and ground handling operations, catering, travel agencies as well as travel information and reservation services. The Group's current number of employees is approximately 9,500, while the fleet comprises 63 aircraft. During 2008, Finnair carried a total of 8,270,100 passengers. Finnair is a member of oneworld, the leading global airline alliance.