Finnair, the national carrier of Finland, announced its new winter schedule on the New York – Helsinki route. Until December 7, the Nordic airline features daily non-stop A330 service, departing JFK at 5:40 p.m. and arriving in Helsinki the next morning at 8:50 a.m. Flights from Helsinki to JFK depart at 2:10 p.m. and arrive the same afternoon at 3:55 p.m. Between December 8, 2009 and March 27, 2010, Finnair will fly either five or six days per week, depending on the exact travel date.

“Please check with your travel agent or online at www.finnair.com before you finalize your travel dates because during the winter there will be one or two days every week when Finnair does not operate to and from the USA,” recommends Michael Maass, Finnair’s Sales Director for North America. “But do consider Finnair when you book your next trip, because sometimes flying via Helsinki to one of our European destinations such as Milan or Istanbul, 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!”

Finnair flies brand new Airbus A330’s on its transatlantic route. “These new airplanes have improved Finnair’s environmental efficiency significantly, especially since they consume 20% less fuel than the MD-11 they replaced,” notes Maass.

Toronto Service in 2010
In addition to non-stop service to Helsinki from JFK, Finnair will add five flights per week between Toronto and Helsinki next summer. From June 6 to September 10, 2010, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, Finnair will offer all-economy class flights, 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.

As Michael Maass points out, “This particular schedule will be excellent for travelers who want to connect to Finnair’s flights to the Far East. Of course, we know that many of our passengers use Finnair to get to destinations in the Baltic countries or almost anywhere in Europe. Smart travelers love to bypass congested airports like London or Paris, and instead go through Helsinki. In addition to their actual time in the air, transfer times are usually much shorter!”

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.