By IANS
Mumbai : Nordic carrier Finnair Wednesday said it will increase its frequency from Mumbai to Helsinki to six times a week beginning April, from five now, to tap the growing potential for air travel to Europe and North America.
“Our new service will strengthen Finnair’s role as a bridge-builder between Asia and Europe,” Christer Haglund, the airline’s senior vice-president for corporate communications, said in a press conference here.
“The additional flight linking Mumbai with Helsinki was dictated by the strong traffic demand between Asia and Europe. It will now also include the weekend traveller,” Haglund said, adding Asia was a top priority for Finnair.
“Last year, Finnair recorded a 32.6-percent growth on the Asian sector, carrying more than 1.10 million passengers between the two continents.”
“This traffic growth will continue. We are constantly looking for opportunities to expand more on the Indian market. Our long-haul fleet is soon to be one of the most modern in the world, as we are investing strongly in new aircraft.”
According to Taina Tornstrom, Finnair’s director for Indian subcontinent, along with the addition of an additional frequency, the carrier will also reduce the time needed to board a connecting flight to New York from Helsinki.
“From April, we will also offer the second-fastest connection between Mumbai and New York, with a travel time just 17:10 hours,” Tornstrom told IANS. “We also offer an excellent link from Mumbai to Europe, where we serve 60 destinations.”
At present, Air India offers the fastest service between Mumbai and New York, thanks to its daily, non-stop service that was launched last August.
Finnair officials explained that the airline, which launched India operations in October 2006 with just five flights to the Indian capital, would soon exhaust the 14 slots to the country, made available by the current bilateral aviation pact.
“The bilateral with India – which allows only two destinations – will have to be renewed to get more slots and destinations. India is high on our priority since business links between our two countries is also expanding,” Tornstrom said.
The reference of Finnair officials was to the presence of more than 70 Finnish companies in India led by Nokia, Wartsila, Metso and Kone and the commencement of operations by 20 Indian firms in Finland, like Wipro, Sasken and Infosys.
In addition, the Finnish embassy in New Delhi issued around 60,000 visas in 2007 against 40,000 a year ago, leading to the European country’s government to look at a consulate in Mumbai.
“People are also finding Finland interesting for holidays. We have Santa Claus. We have lakes. We have saunas. We have reindeer. The interest has really grown in the past few years,” Tornstrom said.