In a statement made on Tuesday, Finnish National carrier said that the passenger number for its carriers hit record low in the month of June owing to the lack of demand caused by the global economic slowdown. Though the carrier operated more routes and planes in the month of June, the airline said the total number of passengers traveling in the scheduled flights declined by 2.5 percent.

Compared to last year, the total revenue of the airline per kilometer increased by about 5.3 percent to 1.79 billion in the month of June; whereas, the increase in the month of May was 6.3 percent. The overall passenger load factor of the airline fell by 3.6 percent working out to a total of 73.4 percent.

On the airline's Asia routes, the passenger load factor dropped by 6.9 percentage points working out to 69 percent. Notably, Asia routes are the spearhead of the expansion plans of the airline.

Finnair, the national carrier of Finland, is getting ready to cut its capacity by around two per cent in the beginning, as a result of high fuel costs and declining passenger demand and may also cut jobs, the airline's chief executive revealed to a paper. This is not a surprising move though.

According to Helsingin Sanomat, the Chief Executive of the carrier, Jukka Hienonen, said, "If we will have to make a reduction that equals the level of average overcapacity in Europe, 7-10 percent, we will face staff cuts"..

The traffic figures of the carrier for the month of May, reported on Tuesday, revealed a lower number of travellers on scheduled services, fairly due to diminishing demand for its services to both China and India, connections that have so far lead its development plan.

Finnair today starts a new direct route from Helsinki to Seoul, taking the number of Finnair's Asian destinations to 11.
 
Finnair's first flight will land Incheon Airport on June 3rd with the first flight from to Helsinki taking off on the same day. The new route will be served by five times a week service on the airline's brand new Airbus A340-300 long-haul plane.

Since the year 2001, the carrier's Asian traffic has grown six-fold. The development of its Asian network has been possible due to its long-haul fleet repair and the addition of new planes. Finnair received 2 brand new A340-300 planes in 2007 and 2 more will come in the months of May and July this year.

Every year, the demand for air links between Europe and South Korea is increasing. Offering a great deal of potential for leisure travel from both Europe to Asia, Korea is enjoying growing popularity as a tourist destination with Europeans

Finnair, the national carrier of Finland, on Thursday said that the record high level of fuel prices together with a slower rise in demand would reduce its full-year profits, bringing its shares to a three-year low. The rising fuel costs are causing a lot of troubles to the aviation industry and no wonder that lots of airlines are facing profits downgrading to all time lows.

The airline said that its current year's operational result would fall from the levels it achieved last year. It had earlier said that the first half operational profits would be flat.

In a statement, the airline's Chief Executive, Jukka Hienonen, said, "Factors troubling the entire sector -- rapidly rising oil prices and a sharp fall in passenger load factors -- are also clearly weakening Finnair's profit-making capacity".

Finnair has taken the delivery of Airbus A340, its first new long-haul aircraft. These airbuses reveal modern and advanced technology that is to be used on the long distance flights of Finnair, flying between Europe and Asia. Airbus A340 has the capacity to seat 269 passengers. The first commercial flight of this new aircraft had been on June 2, from Helsinki to Tokyo.

Finnair had ordered for three A340 aircrafts in December, 2005 and it had just received its first A340 airbus. The second aircraft of this modern technology was also received by Finnair in mid-June, which had arrived from Toulouse. Finnair has plans to replace the Boeing MD-11, its present aircraft with the technologically advanced aircrafts, Airbus A340s and A330s. By the end of 2010, the airline will be having a long-haul fleet of these modern aircrafts.

The new aircrafts have engines that are based on the most recent technology and it decreases emissions and fuel consumptions considerably. The aircrafts also offer the passengers of Finnair a comfortable journey. The passengers will be having the option of selecting from the wide range of entertainment and communications offered in the aircrafts. In the Economy Class, all the passenger seats are equipped with numerous TV and audio channels, 20 films, satellite phones, a 60 CD collection permitting the passenger to compile his own play lists.

With the coming of June 2008, Finnair will be launching direct flights to Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The flights are to come with five weekly frequencies. The new Airbus from Finnair that will operate the direct flights is the long-haul aircraft A340-300. Seoul is to be the eleventh Asian destination for Finnair.

The passengers who will find this service very convenient will be mostly South Koreans, mainly during the summers. This flight route will supposedly boost up the ever-growing Asian network of Finnair and will support the status of Helsinki, as a significant transfer point between Asia and Europe.

Finnair is also scheduled to be the only airline that will fly non-stop from South Korea to northern Europe. Passengers can also avail the fabulous connections from Helsinki to more than forty European cities provided by Finnair.

Finnair has ventured its new route to India with direct flights to Mumbai, from 26th June. The city is connected to Helsinki through Airbus A340 aircraft with uninterrupted flights, five days a week. Previously, the Finland's airlines major served Indian capital Delhi with three-weekly frequency flights.  

The flights to Mumbai are essentially driven by reinforced demand for Asian market. The move is actually a part of Finnair's Asian strategy. Soon the number of weekly flights to India is expected to rise to 12, from current three. 

Mumbai reckon to be India's financial capital – largest center for business and logistics. Most modern and western city in the country, it is driven by cotton industry. A city never sleeps. The region is inhabited by an affluent population – potential traffic willing to tour Europe.

Starting from September 2008, Finnair is introducing a new type of in-flight exercise (Asahi, roughly translated as "Sunrise") programme on board its long haul flights to Asia and New York as well as on long Leisure flights. 

Through this exercise passengers will be able to stretch their limbs with ease and can feel relaxed and rejuvenate. The Asahi technique was pioneered in Finland and it combines Finnish and Asian health know-how. 

The main advantage of Asahi is that this exercise can be practiced by sitting down.  Moreover, it does not cause sweating and after this exercise passengers can feel more comfortable.

Finnair, which commenced daily operations from Delhi, last year, has now launched its Mumbai operations with five flights a week starting June 27, 2007. Finnair has inducted the A340 aircraft with a two-class configuration for our Mumbai services. The fare on offer for Mumbai to other European destinations starts at INR 18,500, while from Mumbai to Scandinavian destinations starts at INR 20,000. The airline is optimistic and expects a load factor of 60-70 per cent from Mumbai to Helsinki. Â"We will eventually also look at a daily service from Mumbai," says Ambarish Mukherjee, Sales Manager - India (West & South Region), Finnair.
According to Mukherjee, Finnair has also worked out inter-line agreements with Jet Airways, Air India, Kingfisher and Indian to cater to cities where they do not have flights, such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.

Â"Apart from Mumbai, this flight would be very convenient for passengers from neighboring cities like Pune, Ahmedabad etc.  The Mumbai route also gives Finnair onward connections to destinations all over India,Â" informed Taina Tornstrom, director Indian Subcontinent, Finnair.

The airline is targeting mariners and students and is offering a special allowance of 10 kg extra luggage. Apart from that, the airline is also working on an Indian menu, with special focus on vegetarian and Jain meals to cater to its Indian passengers. The airline is also looking at a strategic plan to promote its exotic winter packages. "Our USP is that we have Santa Claus as our Brand Ambassador, helping us aggressively promote the winter packages. We plan to work closely with the Finish Tourism Board and Scandinavian Tourism Board as we plan to target the incentive market," informs Mukherjee.