Finnair has been the most punctual international airline for the past two months, according to travel data provider FlightStats. With 93.83 per cent of flights arriving or departing within 15 minutes of schedule in May and 91.14 per cent in April, Finnair is currently the world’s most reliable international carrier according to the data services firm, which supplies the travel industry and general public with real-time global flight tracking information.

“There are all kinds of factors out of an airline’s control that can cause delays to passengers and loss of revenue, but these rankings highlight the degree to which dedicated employees working in well-defined processes can proactively and positively manage on-time performance,” says Finnair Chief Operating Officer Ville Iho. “I’m very proud of this impressive achievement, both among our own employees and those of our key partners.”

In FlightStats’ rankings for the year 2012, Finnair was runner-up for lowest global cancellation rate and a runner-up for most punctual European airline. The oneworld alliance, of which Finnair is a member, was named the alliance with the best on-time performance.

FlightStats’ on-time performance reports for airlines and airports worldwide are available online at www.flightstats.com.

More information: Finnair Media Desk, Tel. +358 9 818 4020, comms(at)finnair.com.

Summers are busy at Helsinki International airport. Finnair would like to remind its customers to reserve enough time to go through the baggage drop, security control, border control and boarding at the airport. The check-in for Finnair’s long haul flights closes 1 hour before departure and 45 minutes before departure for all other flights. Finnair recommends checking in for your flight in advance either online or via your mobile phone. All baggage must also be dropped off at the Baggage Drop desk before the flight’s check-in closes. Finnair wishes all its customers a nice summer and pleasant flights!

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Finnair has become a certified member of the IATA Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) program. It is a pioneering program for independent assessment and improvement of the environmental management of airlines. Finnair is part of an airlines test group that takes part in and develops the program.

”Finnair has for a long time been active in reporting environmental issues and we are very eager to share our experiences and expertise in order to develop industry standards,” says Kati Ihamäki, the Vice President of Sustainable Development at Finnair. ”Cooperation is vital in the long run if airline industry is to achieve its long-term goal of carbon neutral air travel and other environmental issues. IEnvA’s ongoing development helps to ensure that all airlines are looking ahead to a future of sustainable development.”

The IEnvA program is based on established environmental standards (such as ISO 14001) that have been developed by environmental specialists together with leading airlines, including Finnair. Both Finnair and other airlines will be evaluated by accredited environmental assessment organisations.

Finnair has received Fast Travel Gold Award because it has taken part in IATA’s Fast Travel Program at the Helsinki Airport. The aim of the programme is to reduce queuing time at airports and give passengers more self-service options during travel. The programme covers check-in, baggage check-in and claim, travel documents check, boarding and booking changes. Finnair has introduced automatic self-service systems at the Helsinki Airport for all these procedures. Self-service has been also been made available at other airports, especially in Europe.

If passengers at the Helsinki Airport have not checked-in online in advance, this will be done automatically on their behalf several hours before departure. Passengers can also print their own baggage tags, go through security check and board using an SMS boarding pass. EU passengers or passengers from other selected countries (e.g. Japan) can use self-service passport scanners when leaving Schengen area or when arriving there. This makes airport formalities faster and makes queues shorter for passengers arriving from other countries. These improvements have been made possible by Finnair’s cooperation with Finavia that operates Helsinki Airport, the Finnish Boarder Guard and other airport and technology partners.

Info: Finnair Media Desk, tel. +358 9 818 4020, comms@finnair.com.

Baggage from flights within Finland and the Schengen area can now be collected from the baggage claim in arrival halls 2A and 2B. Due to possible last minute changes, the arrival hall is no longer announced in flight, so we recommend passengers check the information monitors at the airport.

New signboards have also been mounted at the airport to help passengers find the different arrival halls easily. There is also a new passageway to arrival hall 2B near the gate 29.

Baggage from flights outside the Schengen area always arrives at arrival hall 2B.

Finnair attends the Nor-Shipping fair in Oslo 4–7 June. Nor-Shipping is the leading maritime event week offering top-quality exhibitions, high-level conferences and prime networking opportunities for maritime industry professionals.

Finnair offers an array of special offers during the fair, in addition to which we also have a special campaign for new Finnair Plus members: By joining our frequent flyer program during the fair, you immediately earn 5,000 Finnair Plus points. What’s more, you also enter a draw for an extra 40,000 points, with which you can, for example, get an upgrade to Finnair Business Class for two round trip flights in Europe.

Find us at stand E02-06 in the fair centre. For more information on the event, visit http://www.messe.no/nor-shipping.

What are the most memorable moments in travelling? How can the travel experience be made smoother and even more enjoyable? After two groundbreaking crowdsourcing initiatives, Finnair and Finavia’s Helsinki Airport know who to ask. In 2013, Quality Hunters returns – more interactive than ever. 

On 26 March, Finnair, one of the world’s longest-running airlines, and Finavia, the operator of Helsinki Airport, launch Quality Hunters 2013 in order to identify the key moments that can either make or break a journey, and seek out practical ways of improving the travel experience.

This time, they will look to the extremely active and inventive online community that formed around the previous Quality Hunters initiative and whose keen interest in improving the quality of air travel has kept the discussion going ever since.

“After two extremely positive experiences we wanted to make the Quality Hunters concept a substantial part of our product development. By working together with the community, we can make sure that the ideas are viable and that they serve both our customers and our business. Our goal is to be an attractive choice when travelling between Asia and Europe. With our customers’ help we can concentrate on the very matters that make the difference to them,” says Peter Gabrielsson, Vice President of Customer Experience and Product at Finnair.

Together, Finnair and Helsinki Airport offer the fastest and shortest connections between Asia and Europe, and both companies seek to expand their business in the East. For Helsinki Airport, the quality of service and the extra value offered to passengers becomes more significant as transit airports play an increasingly important role in travel decisions. 

“By inviting our passengers to take part in our product development, we hope to come up with practical ways of adding that little bit of extra to make travelling via Helsinki even smoother and more enjoyable, while strengthening our position as the leading long-haul airport in Northern Europe,” says Johanna Metsälä, Customer Experience Manager at Finavia.

New approach to service development

Quality Hunters 2013 is a model for community-driven service development where the most promising ideas provided by the community are selected to be developed further with the professionals at Finnair and Finavia. The community will be invited to share their views of what makes a travel experience great and identify points of improvement along the passenger’s journey.

The companies are calling for ideas that can really be put to use, which is why product development professionals at Finnair and Finavia will engage with the community through the entire project. Working with an airport and an airline presents many considerations and restrictions for potential ideas, as they must adhere to strict security guidelines and in-flight weight limits, for instance. 

Where the previous initiatives mapped the passengers’ notions of quality in air travel, Quality Hunters 2013 takes a more practical approach in making the passengers’ visions a reality. The initiative aims for ideas that are easy to put to use and support the business goals of the two companies as well as improve the passenger experience in a tangible way.

The Quality Hunters Twitter channel, blog and Facebook page will be the main hubs for discussion. Although the majority of work will be done through these channels, active and involved community members will also be handpicked to test and develop Finnair and Helsinki Airport’s services in person. 

Innovative ideas and international acclaim

Quality Hunters 2013 follows two award-winning crowdsourcing initiatives run by the companies. The 2010 Rethink Quality initiative inspired Finnair and Finavia to find new ways of looking at quality, and in 2011, Quality Hunters, season 2 proved the power of a great community in creating innovative ideas to improve air travel. The Helsinki Airport Book Swap, which opened in summer 2012 and the vegetarian meals introduced on long-haul flights later in the autumn are both great examples of successful ideas co-developed by the Quality Hunters community, Finnair and Finavia.

Become a Quality Hunter!

Anyone can join the conversation by following @qualityhunters on Twitter. The blog at qualityhunters.com will discuss the ideas suggested by community members and follow their development process while sharing news about the initiative’s progress. The initiative can also be followed on Facebook at facebook.com/qualityhunters.

Finnair is moving from T5 to T2 at Arlanda on 9 April 2013. Officially the refurbished terminal will be inaugurated on 23 April, with 2,000 square metres of additional space on a brand-new level. For passengers, this will mean a smoother route to their flight, twice as much seating, and new shops and restaurants in an international setting.

Business Class customers and Finnair Plus and oneworld top-tier cardholders can enjoy the brand new 800 m² Menzies Executive Lounge services.

Short distances from check-in to the security checkpoint and on to the gate mean that you can get to your flight quickly. Check-in is open all day but flights are closed 45 minutes before each departure. For Business and Pro travellers, there’s also a priority lane through the security checkpoint. What’s more, the route to the baggage pick-up will be shorter in terminal T2.

Finnair has introduced a new social check-in service, which allows the passengers to link their Facebook profile with the seat map. When doing so, other passengers can see the passenger's Facebook profile and the passenger can see who else has checked in for the same flight and where they are seated.

After completing check-in, the customer can share his or her travel destination and the estimated time of arrival with his or her friends in their social networks.

"We want to make air travel more social and find new ways to utilise social media during customers’ journey in ways that delight our customers," says Jarkko Konttinen, Vice President, Marketing. "We're proud to be front-runners in utilising social media and making air travel more social."

The service only shows the customer's public Facebook profile and is only visible to the passengers on the same flight. Using the social check-in service is voluntary, and customers can choose to travel "incognito", just like before. Also, it is possible to disable the social check-in at any time, thus preventing other passengers from seeing the social network profile in conjunction with the seat map.

In the first phase the service only includes Facebook but more social networks will be added later. The service was developed in partnership with Amadeus IT Group.