Finnair: Santa’s Official Airline

Finland’s national carrier was established in 1923 when a Finnish consul created an airline under the name Aero Ltd. The Finnish Government eventually acquired a majority stake in the company and, in 1946, the name was changed to Finnair. Since then, the airline has carried over 8.5 million passengers around the world and have developed a reputation as an airline which is operationally the best in Europe.

Santa waves from the side of the plane while he travels around the world

But what it is more famous for is its name as Santa’s favourite airline. As Santa Claus is traditionally from Finland’s Rovaniemi, it is only natural that he would choose only to fly with his country’s national carrier. In fact, he will be found on Finnair craft’s until the end of the year, happily waving to the countries that he passes by to spread the Christmas cheer.

We should not let the fact that Finnair has been the official airline of Santa Claus since 1983 overshadow the fact that it is an airline that is innovative in its operational management. In its 83 year history, Finnair has changed innovatively to deal with the continual shifts that occur with time, allowing it to sustain and continue as one of the world’s oldest operating airlines. One of the most significant innovations that the airline has made to the air travel of passengers in becoming the first Western European carrier to fly non-stop between Europe and China with the Helsinki-Beijing route in 1988.

The carrier has a history of always being a step ahead of the rest of the market and one of the newest changes that the airline has made to its structure is its new Business Class lie-flat seats. The new Business Class lie-flat seats are a first in Nordic Airlines with the installation of these innovative seats in its whole long-haul fleet. This ensures the optimum comfort of their passengers while flying the long distances from the Nordic regions of the world.

The introduction to the Finnair fleet of the modern Embraer 170 & 190 aircraft, gives scheduling flexibility that has recently extended Finnair’s network to include Pisa, Geneva and Edinburgh. In 2007, Ljubljana and Lisbon are already confirmed as additional Finnair European destinations.

And the passengers have a whole lot of choice to choose from – Finnair’s 50 aircraft fleet flies to 66 destinations around the world – and as a part of the Oneworld alliance, the reach should be even further. Finnair codeshare with Air China, Air France, Aeroflot, American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malev, Rossiya Russian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Qantas presenting passengers with a seamless mode of travel to most corners of the world.

The extension of their aviation networks and their history as a popular choice for both Santa and for passengers around the world highlights their success as an airline that continually and innovatively move to work best for their passengers needs. It is possibly this that makes them one of the oldest and popular airlines in the world today.