Finnair

Finnair Oyj
IATA code :	AY
ICAO code :	FIN
Call sign :	FINNAIR
Founding:	1923 (as Aero O / Y)
Seat:	Vantaa , Finland
Turnstile :	Helsinki-Vantaa
Home airport :	Helsinki-Vantaa
Company form:	Oyj
ISIN :	FI0009003230
IATA prefix code :	105
Management:	Pekka Vauramo ( CEO )
Number of employees:	4,937 (2016)
Sales:	€ 2.3 billion (2016)
Passenger volume:	10.9 million (2016)
Alliance :	one world
Frequent Flyer Program :	Finnair Plus
Fleet size:	72 (+ 4 orders)
Aims:	National and international
Website:	www.finnair.com

Finnair is Finland's national airline based in Vantaa and based at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport . It is a member of the oneworld aviation alliance and, when it was founded in 1923, it is the sixth oldest airline in the world.

history

Junkers F 13 from Aero O / Y in the 1920s

Finnair headquarters near Helsinki, House of Travel and Transportation (HOTT)

Foundation and first years

Finnair was founded as Aero O / Y on November 1st, 1923 . It began its flight operations on March 20, 1924 with a Junkers F 13 , which transported 162 kg mail from Helsinki to Tallinn , the machine was equipped with floats and landed on the water, since both cities did not yet have airports. Until the beginning of the Second World War, the fleet was expanded to include Ju 52 / 3m and De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide .

World War II was particularly difficult for the airline as Helsinki and other Finnish cities were targets of air strikes . The company lost half of its fleet, which had been taken over by the Finnish Air Force during this time . It is estimated that during the Winter War of 1939/1940 half of the passengers were children who were evacuated to Sweden . In 1953, Aero O / Y added the name Finnair to its name. Since June 25, 1968 it has been officially called "Finnair Oyj ". The Finnish state holds around 60% of the shares, 20% are foreign owned.

The jet age

Finnair's Sud Aviation Caravelle in 1976

Douglas DC-8-62 of Finnair, Edinburgh

Finnair Airbus A300B4-200 in 1994

The acquisition of the Sud Aviation Caravelle , the airline's first jet aircraft, was revolutionary in 1957 . They were delivered from 1960 as the Caravelle 1A, the fourth example, a Caravelle VI, already had the more advanced Rolls-Royce Avon 527 engines . The three older Caravelle 1As have been upgraded to Caravelle III. From 1964 the Caravelle fleet was modernized. Caravelle 10B3s equipped with Pratt & Whitney JT8 engines replaced the existing ones. Finnair called the Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle 10B3 "Super Caravelle". The aircraft registration numbers were OH-LSA to OH-LSK . In 1962 Finnair took over 27 percent of the shares in the Finnish airline Kar-Air .

In 1970, the Douglas DC-8 was the first US jet aircraft to be put into service, thus starting long-haul traffic across the Atlantic to New York City . In 1971 six used Douglas DC-9-10s were acquired from Canada , which were mainly used within Finland and on shorter European routes. In 1975, the age of the wide-body aircraft began at Finnair with the entry into service of the first McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 , which the company had serviced by the KSSU Group . A year later, the expansion of the Douglas DC-9 fleet began with the entry into service of the first DC-9-50. This type of aircraft became the main model on European routes and gradually replaced the Super Caravelle, the last of which was decommissioned and sold in 1983. From the end of 1982 the first McDonnell Douglas MD-82s came into use and Finnair became one of the first customers for their MD-83 and MD-87 variants. From around 1983 the Douglas DC-9-10s were replaced by six used DC-9-40s purchased in Japan. The DC-9 fleet was gradually replaced by other used MD-80s from the mid-1990s. From the end of the 1990s, the remaining DC-9s were replaced by mid-2003 and the MD-80s were replaced by aircraft from the Airbus A320 family by mid-2006 .

More recent history since 1990

Finnair's McDonnell Douglas MD-82 in 2001

The DC-10 fleet used for long-haul operations was gradually replaced by the new McDonnell Douglas MD-11 from the early 1990s . When the first machine went into service in December 1990, Finnair was the world's first operator of this type.

In 1999, Finnair joined the oneworld airline alliance after Finnair's competitor SAS Scandinavian Airlines was a founding member of the rival alliance Star Alliance in 1997 .

In 2002, Finnair founded Aero Airlines, a subsidiary in Estonia . This has gradually taken over the ATR 72-200 from Finnair and in addition to the Tallinn – Helsinki route also served domestic Finnish routes for Finnair. Finnair promised itself from the Estonian subsidiary that it would be able to operate cheaply in the growing Baltic competition. However, flight operations were discontinued in early 2008. Finnair also founded the subsidiary FlyNordic in Sweden , which was sold in 2007.

For 2006 Finnair reported a net loss of 13 million euros . This was justified by the fact that the company had been restructured this year and this had cost 80 million euros. In 2007 a pre-tax profit of 140 million euros was achieved. A profit of 30 million euros from the sale of FlyNordic contributed to this. In 2008, Finnair slipped back into the red as part of the economic crisis. The annual loss was 52.1 million euros.

On February 22, 2010 Finnair retired as the penultimate operator of the type in the passenger version of their last McDonnell Douglas MD-11 . One of the retired machines was converted into a cargo aircraft, but has already been retired. On July 1, 2011, the joint venture “ Flybe Nordic ” was founded with Flybe on the basis of the acquired Finncomm Airlines . Since July 2012, all engines and components have been serviced by SR Technics in Zurich. Finnair justified the decision with a focus on the core business and more efficient cost structures.

In 2012, Finnair made a small profit again for the first time in five years of losses.

In September 2013, Finnair became the first airline in the world to receive an Airbus A321-200 equipped with Sharklets . Finnair is also the first customer of the Airbus A350-900 in Europe . The first of a total of 19 machines was delivered on October 7, 2015.

Destinations

Finnair airport lounge in Helsinki

In addition to domestic and European cities, Finnair also operates several intercontinental routes to India , East Asia and the USA .

In the German-speaking region in Germany are Berlin-Tegel , Dusseldorf , Frankfurt , Hamburg , Hannover , Stuttgart and Munich fly, Austria Vienna and Innsbruck , as well as in Switzerland Geneva and Zurich .

Code sharing

Finnair has code-share agreements with American Airlines , British Airways , Iberia and Japan Airlines .

fleet

Finnair Airbus A321-200

Finnair's Embraer 190

Current fleet

As of June 2020, the Finnair fleet consists of 72 aircraft with an average age of 10.9 years:

Aircraft type	number	ordered	Remarks	Seats ( Business / Eco + / Eco )
Airbus A319-100	8th		OH-LVD in Oneworld special livery, four inactive	138 (14 / - / 124)
Airbus A320-200	10		all inactive	165 (14 / - / 151)
Airbus A321-200	19th		13 equipped with sharklets , 16 inactive	196 (16 / - / 180) 209 (16 / - / 193)
Airbus A330-300	8th		OH-LTO in "Marimekko Unikko" special paint, six inactive	263 (45/40/178) 289 (32/40/218)
Airbus A350-900	15th	4th	OH-LWB in Oneworld special livery; OH-LWL in "Marimekko Kivet" special painting four inactive	297 (46/43/208) 336 (32/42/262)
Embraer 190	12		OH-LKN in Oneworld special livery; operated by Nordic Regional Airlines one inactive	100 (12 / - / 88)
total	72	4th

Previously deployed aircraft

Finnair's Douglas DC-3, Jamijärvi

Finnair's Convair CV-440 in 1970

Finnair's Boeing 757-200 in 2002

In the past, Finnair operated, among others, the following types of aircraft:

• Airbus A300B4-200
• Airbus A340-300
• ATR 42-300 / 320
• ATR 72-200
• Boeing 737-200
• Boeing 757-200
• Convair CV-340
• Convair CV-440
• De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
• Douglas DC-2
• Douglas DC-3 / C-47
• Douglas DC-8
• Douglas DC-9
• Embraer 170
• Fokker F-27
• Junkers F 13
• Junkers Ju 52 / 3m
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
• McDonnell Douglas MD-11
• McDonnell Douglas MD-82/83/87
• Saab 340
• Sud Aviation Caravelle IA / III / VI-R / 10B3

Incidents

The Junkers Ju 52 / 3mge, shot down on June 14, 1940

Finnair and its predecessor company Aero O / Y recorded five incidents with a total loss of the aircraft and four incidents with a total of 58 deaths in their history up to July 2018:

• On June 14, 1940, a Junkers Ju 52 / 3mge ( aircraft registration OH-ALL ) was shot down by the Soviet Air Force on the flight from Helsinki to Tallinn over the Gulf of Finland shortly before the illegal annexation of Estonia . All nine inmates died (see also Kaleva incident ) .

• On November 7, 1941, all three engines of a Junkers Ju 52 / 3mce (OH-LAK) failed due to lack of fuel and the seaplane landed in the sea in an emergency. Two people were killed trying to swim ashore. The aircraft was then repaired.

• The same aircraft flew on October 31, 1945 in bad weather with 14 people on board as it approached Hyvinkää airfield in a forest. The plane had to be written off.

• On January 3, 1961, a Douglas DC-3 / C-47A of Aero O / Y (OH-LCC) crashed into a forest on the flight from Kokkola to Vaasa near Koivulahti. The two drunk pilots (with blood alcohol concentrations of 2 and 1.56 per thousand respectively) flew the machine about 10 kilometers from Vaasa airport at the lowest altitude, which led to a stall . None of the 25 occupants survived (see also Aero-O / Y flight 311 ) .

• On November 8, 1963, another Douglas DC-3 / C-47A of the Aero O / Y (OH-LCA) crashed near Mariehamn and burned out, killing 22 of the 25 occupants. The cause was most likely a defect in the captain's altimeter , which meant that the minimum descent altitude was not reached in very bad weather.

It is also known that the company was hit by aircraft hijackings in 1971, 1978 and 1986 , but no one was harmed.

Color design

Finnair logo used until 2010

With the introduction of the Douglas DC-8-62CF ( OH-LFR ) on January 27, 1969, Finnair flew with a metallic underside and blue cheatline, plus the Finnish cross on the tail unit. From February 1976 the DC-9-50 was added, with which the color scheme also changed. The metallic underside of the aircraft has been replaced with white. There were also three stripes of blue, which graduated from dark to light and could be seen at an angle on the front underside of the fuselage. In 2000 the blue cheatline was replaced by a white area. The tail unit has been redesigned with a curved white "F" on an alternating blue background. The lettering also changed. In 2010 it was decided again for a new visual appearance. Now the aircraft are almost entirely painted white, the curved “F” in the tail unit has been dark blue and the font of the name has been modernized.

See also

• List of airlines

Web links

Commons : Finnair  - collection of images

 Wikinews: Finnair  - on the news

• Finnair's website (including Finnish, English, German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} investors.finnair.com - Result Center (English), accessed on April 22, 2017
2. ↑ aerosecure.de - The 10 oldest airlines in the world
3. ↑ FliegerRevue November 2008, pp. 14–15, Flying like almost 50 years ago - Finnair is offering a nostalgic jet for the anniversary
4. ↑ airliners.net - McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (English), accessed March 20, 2009
5. ↑ finnairgroup.com - Finnair's good result prepares way for future investments, February 5, 2008 ( memento of October 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
6. ↑ fliegerweb.com - Finnair also reports annual loss, February 5, 2009
7. ↑ airliners.de - Finnair adopted MD-11, February 22, 2010
8. ↑ airliners.de - Finnair starts cargo flights, May 14, 2010
9. ↑ Finnair wants to cooperate with SR Technics. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , April 11, 2012, accessed on September 14, 2012 . 
10. ↑ Wolfgang Hirn: Now to the Far East with Finnair. In: manager-magazin.de. July 29, 2013, accessed February 14, 2015 . 
11. ↑ airliners.de - Finnair takes over the world's first Airbus A321 with Sharklets, September 6, 2013
12. ↑ Airbus - Finnair becomes the first European operator of the Airbus A350 XWB, October 7, 2015 ( Memento of April 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on September 5, 2019
13. ↑ ^{a b} finnair.com - Our destinations accessed on April 22, 2017
14. ^ Finnair Fleet Details and History. Retrieved June 22, 2020 (English). 
15. ↑ Airbus - Orders & deliveries , accessed on April 22, 2017
16. ↑ bocaviation.com - BOC Aviation Delivers First Of Six New Airbus A321CEO Aircraft To Finnair, February 24, 2017 (English), accessed on April 22, 2017
17. ↑ finnair.com - Fleet accessed on April 22, 2017
18. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1966 to 2007
19. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Sutton, UK, 2008-2013.
20. ↑ airfleets.net - Finnair (English), accessed on April 22, 2017
21. ↑ Accident statistics Aero OY , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2018.
22. ↑ Finnair accident statistics , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2018.
23. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report Junkers Ju-52 / 3mge OH-ALL Keri Island (Gulf of Finland)} in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 23 August 2016.
24. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report Junkers Ju-52 / 3mce OH-LAK Turku (Gulf of Finland) in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 23 August 2016.
25. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report Junkers Ju-52 / 3mce OH-LAK Hyvinkaa in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 23 August 2016.
26. ^ Accident report DC-3 OH-LCC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 23, 2016.
27. ↑ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest 15 Volume II, Circular 78-AN / 66, pp. 201-207.
28. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report DC-3 OH-LCA in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 23 August 2016.
29. ↑ Flight accident data and report McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 registration unknown København-Kastrup Airport (CPH) in the Aviation Safety Network , accessed on 23 August 2016.
30. ↑ Flight accident data and report Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 10B3 OH-LSB Oulu Airport (OUL) in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 23 August 2016.
31. ↑ Flight accident data and report McDonnell Douglas DC-9 registration unknown Oulu Airport (OUL) in the Aviation Safety Network , accessed on August 23, 2016.