Finnair opens Shanghai route

Finnair is the first oneworld airline to begin operating to Shanghai in China. The direct flights between Helsinki and Shanghai will start in September.

"During the past few years Finnair has been focusing strongly on its Asian operations. Passenger numbers on the Asian routes increased by 40 percent last year. This year capacity is increased by 25 percent," says COO and SVP Scheduled Passenger Traffic Henrik Arle.

Shanghai, located on the coast of the East China Sea, is the fastest growing business centre in Asia. Initially flights to Shanghai will be operated three  times a week. Like Finnair's other Asian operations, the flights depart from Helsinki late in the afternoon allowing for good connections from European flights. The return flights to Helsinki also have good connections to the European network.

The Finnair Beijing route will be operated daily from the beginning of September. At the moment, Finnair flies to Beijing five times a week with an sixth flight being added at the start of June.

"As there are very few growth areas in the global economy at the moment, we are pleased that China stands out as the positive exception," Arle adds.

In addition to Beijing and Shanghai, Finnair flies to Hong Kong in China. From the autumn onwards Finnair will have two daily flights to China. Other Finnair destinations in Asia are Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo and, as of June,  Osaka in Japan.

Finnair uses Boeing MD-11 aircraft in its long-haul traffic. This week a fifth  MD-11 will be added to the Finnair fleet.