Founded in 1923, Finnair is the fifth oldest airline in continuous operation and is consistently listed as one of the safest in the world.

In mid 1923, he concluded an agreement with Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG to provide aircraft and technical support in exchange for a 50% ownership in the new airline.

[16] Air raids on Helsinki and other Finnish cities made World War II a difficult period for the airline.

The Finnish government wanted longer routes, so it acquired a majority stake in the company in 1946 and re-established services to Europe in November 1947, initially using the Douglas DC-3.

The Convair 440 twin-engined pressurised airliner was acquired from January 1953, and these faster aircraft were operated on the company's longer routes as far as London.

[16] Until then, flights had to go via Moscow (Aeroflot, SAS, BA) or Anchorage (most carriers)[21] due to Soviet airspace restrictions, but Finnair circumvented these by flying directly north from Helsinki, over the North Pole and back south through the Bering Strait, avoiding Soviet airspace.

[22] However, Finnair did not have to make a roundabout because of the Soviet regulation on this route, but the Japanese authorities demanded it (as JAL requested strongly).

The first revenue service with the MD-11 took place on 20 December 1990, with OH-LGA[discuss] operating a flight from Helsinki to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

[29][30][31][32][33] On 1 December 2011, Finnair transferred its baggage and apron services to Swissport International as per a five-year agreement signed on 7 November 2011.

[34] As of 2022, it transported about 2.9 million passengers,[35] a substantial decrease from 2019 as COVID-19 pandemic shut down airports and airlines due to travel restrictions.

[36] In March 2023, Finnair announced it would terminate domestic flights from both Tampere and Turku to Helsinki in favor of coach service due to low demand and the short distance.

[37] The key trends for Finnair are shown below (for each year ending 31 December):[38] The group's parent company is Finnair Plc, which is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange and domiciled in Helsinki at the registered address Tietotie 9, Vantaa.

Finnair's head office, known as the House of Travel and Transportation (or "HOTT"), is located on the grounds of Helsinki Airport approximately 1 km south of the passenger terminal.

Additionally, some female Pursers have a white vertical stripe on their dresses or blouses indicating their years of service.

Finnair requires its cabin crew to wear gloves during take-off and landing for safety reasons.

Finnair flies from its Helsinki hub to over 80 destinations in over 35 countries in Asia including India , Europe and North America.

Previously the airline has served Africa and South America, including countries such as Egypt, Colombia and Brazil, but primarily on a leisure basis.

In 2021, Finnair opened five routes from Stockholm–Arlanda to Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi and Phuket in Thailand, as well as New York–JFK, Miami and Los Angeles in the United States.

As of July 2023, the airline utilizes the A330 on intercontinental flights from Helsinki to Delhi, Mumbai, New York, Chicago, Seattle and Doha.

On 3 December 2014, it was announced that Finnair had firmed up the contract for eight additional Airbus A350 aircraft deliveries starting in 2018.

As of April 2019, Finnair operates the Airbus A350 to Bangkok, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Krabi, Los Angeles, Nagoya, Osaka, Phuket, Puerto Vallarta, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.

Due to an aging narrow-body fleet, Finnair plans to retire the Airbus A320 family and replace them with new generation aircraft.

[95] On 18 December 2015, Finnair decided to improve the space efficiency of its current Airbus narrow-body fleet due to a growing need for feeder traffic capacity.

The value of the investment is approximately EUR 40 million, and it includes 22 narrow-body Airbus aircraft in Finnair's fleet.

The airline used these A321s on flights from Helsinki to Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Ljubljana, Paris, Split, Vienna, and Zürich.

At the beginning of 2017, Finnair revealed plans to add more seats to some of the Airbus A350 aircraft in order to increase capacity by up to 13%.

However, should market conditions be weaker than expected, Finnair has the flexibility to return the wide-body fleet to a total of 15 aircraft in 2019 and to maintain it at this level through to 2023.

In February 2022, Finnair unveiled new long-haul business class seats, alongside the debut of a premium economy cabin.

[citation needed] Premium economy, Finnair's newest class of service, was introduced in February 2022.

[citation needed] Finnair's English-language in-flight magazine, Blue Wings, was published 10 times a year.