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Finnair celebrates 70 years of flying to London
Finnair just celebrated a milestone 70 years of London flights from Helsinki.
The Nordic airline’s inaugural flight departed Helsinki on 1 September 1954, flying to Copenhagen and on to Dusseldorf, before finally arriving at the London Airport – now known as Heathrow.
It took a total of eight hours, compared to just three hours today.
Finnair’s first London flight was operated by a Convair 340/440 Metropolitan, capable of carrying 44 passengers.
Today, Helsinki to London flights remain integral to Finnair’s network, with the airline having just announced a 50% increase in flights, starting from 27 October 2024.
Finnair will now offer UK travellers six daily London flights.
The Helsinki to London route is operated by its Airbus fleet, including widebody A350s and A330s featuring lie-flat Business Class seats.
To mark the anniversary, customers travelling between Heathrow and Helsinki on Monday were treated to gifts, including traditional liquorice allsorts – one of the most well-known sweets in Finland.
Customers were also treated to live music from the ‘Finnair Singers’, the airline’s employee choir, which was founded in 1949.
Anssi Partanen, Finnair Market Director Europe, said: “We are incredibly proud to be celebrating 70 years since our first London flight, and it is great to see how much the route has evolved since 1954.”
“London has always been an important city for Finnair, and for our customers.”
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Learn more about : Finnair ( United Kingdom )
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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