Finnair celebrates 30th anniversary in Beijing market, benefiting from opening-up

Finland’s carrier Finnair celebrated its 30th anniversary in the Beijing market on June 1. The carrier said it became the first airline to connect Beijing with western Europe on June 1, 1988.

Thirty years later, Finnair operates 38 weekly flights from Helsinki to Beijing. The latest route to be launched was to Nanjing, capital of East China’s Jiangsu Province, in May this year, the seventh Finnair destination in China after cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Southwest China’s Chongqing.

To better serve Chinese customers, all Finnair flights to China support Alipay payment and feature in-flight Wi-Fi.

Mikko Turtiainen, vice president of global sales at Finnair, attributed the airline’s growth in the Chinese market to its expanded Asian network as well as an increase in frequencies, as Asia is the key region for its global business.

According to the company, over the past 30 years, the route between Beijing and Helsinki has transported about 2.7 million passengers in total.

“We have seen great changes in China over the past three decades, and the country’s opening-up policy is benefiting our company,” Pekka Vauramo, CEO of Finnair, said during a press conference marking the anniversary.

He added that he believes the opening-up policy will not stop, and that the Chinese tourism industry will “go further with a strong momentum.”