Finnair brings Nordic flavours to business and economy class

Finnair brings Nordic flavours to business and economy class passengers in cooperation with top chefs

Finnair is investing in its food offering as part of the acclaimed carrier's drive to present customers with  a unique Nordic experience.

Finnair General Manager – Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, Geoff Stone said food was one of the items that frequently comes up in airline customer satisfaction surveys, especially on long-haul flights, where dining has a strong impact on the overall customer experience.

Finnair has been delighting its business class customers with signature menus designed by top Finnish chefs since 2013, and is now introducing its first Nordic cooperation with top Swedish chef, Tommy Myllymäki, a nominee for Chef of the Year in Sweden and Creative Director for five Stockholm restaurants who has also represented Sweden, enjoying great success in the prestigious Bocuse d'Or competition.

Tommy Myllymäki's Signature European Winter menu will be served on all Finnair long-haul flights departing Helsinki from 7 February 2018 and feature Nordic flavours including Jerusalem artichoke with cep mushrooms and pear, and braised ox with celeriac and kale.

The European Summer menu will have more emphasis on seasonal, crisp fresh vegetables to celebrate the freshness of the Nordic Summer.

"It was exciting to translate my food philosophy into the airline environment. In the end, the restrictions are also opportunities," said Tommy Myllymäki

"Seasonality is key for me, and I want to bring more vegetables, freshness and different textures to the meals on board."

Finnair has also teamed up with the Culinary Team of Finland, who represent Finland in international culinary competitions, to design a menu for the economy class of Finnair's long-haul flights departing Helsinki.

"We want to showcase the best of Finnish cuisine to the world and created a menu that celebrates Finnish traditions and specialties, so that everyone traveling between Europe and Asia with Finnair get a taste of modern Finnish cuisine," said Finnair's 2017 Signature Menu Chef,  Eero Vottonen, who is also a member of the Culinary Team of Finland.

The European Winter menu will be offered for economy class passengers on long-haul flights departing Helsinki from 7 February 7, 2018 and feature a marinated potato salad, lamb with oven baked turnips, and a cheese curd cake. Seasonal menus will follow in the European Summer and Autumn.

"Our new chef co-operations bring the best of Nordic flavours to our customers," said Maarit Keränen, who oversees Finnair's on-board food concepts.

"Food plays a key role in the customer experience, and we are delighted to offer a little piece of the Nordics to the thousands of customers, who fly with us every day from Helsinki to Asia and the Americas."

Finnair will also introduce a classic Finnish tradition in the business class of its long-haul flights departing Asia in the morning - a coffee serving with seven different treats.

This exclusive coffee service will allow customers to spend some quality time enjoying traditional Finnish treats including Carelian pies, cinnamon buns, coffee cake and traditional Finnish chocolates between the two meal services.

Finnair offers excellent connections from Australia with oneworld partners and flies between Asia/North America and Europe with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki.

Finnair carries more than nine million passengers annually and connects 17 cities in Asia and 3 cities in North America with more than 60 destinations in Europe.  Finnair offers excellent connections from Australia with oneworld partners.

Finnair has been named Best International Airline – Offline in the prestigious 2017 AFTA National Travel Industry Awards for the fifth consecutive year.

www.finnair.com/au

New routes for Finnair

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Finnair continues strong growth, opens new routes to Nanjing, Lisbon and Stuttgart, increases capacity for popular destinations in Asia, US and Europe

In line with its growth strategy, Finnair has announced a new year-round route to Nanjing, China and is adding two new European routes for its European Summer 2018 lineup including new non-stop flights to Lisbon and Stuttgart.

Finnair General Manager - Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, Geoff Stone said the airline would also be increasing capacity to Tokyo, Chicago, San Francisco, Bangkok and Delhi.

Further strengthening its solid presence in China, Finnair will open a new year-round route between Helsinki and Nanjing, China. Located along Yangtse River, Nanjing is one of the four ancient capitals of China, and a vibrant centre for culture and economy, with a population of more 8 million people. The opening of the Nanjing route will increase Finnair's growing footprint in Northeast Asia with the Finnish carrier flying to seven destinations in Greater China during the next European Summer period. Altogether Finnair will operate 38 weekly flights to Greater China with daily flights to both Beijing and Shanghai, four weekly flights to both Chongqing and Guangzhou, three weekly flights to both Nanjing and Xi'an as well as 10 weekly flights to Hong Kong. The inaugural flight to Nanjing on 13 May 2018 will be on an Airbus A330 aircraft.

Furthermore, Mr Stone said Finnair would be expanding its network of more than 100 European destinations and from 1 June will operate four weekly flights to Lisbon, Portugal on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays with an Airbus 319 aircraft offering convenient connections for customers travelling to and from Asia; and commencing a new daily service to Stuttgart, Germany from 23 April with an Embraer aircraft.

Finnair additional capacity to popular long-haul destinations during the European Summer 2018 includes:

·         Flight to Chicago daily with the addition of two new weekly flights

·         Three weekly flights to San Francisco with longer operating season, from 3 May to 27 September

·         New double daily flight to Tokyo, Narita with three new weekly flights

·         Three new weekly flights added to the Bangkok route, serving 10 weekly flights during the European Summer season and 16 flights during the Winter season

·         An additional weekly flight on the Delhi route bringing to four weekly flights during the European Summer season and six flights during the Winter season

Finnair increased flights for popular European destinations during the European Summer 2018 includes:

·         Seventeen new weekly flights to Tallinn, flying up to 10 times daily

·         An additional daily flight to Moscow, serving the Russian capital three times daily, and up to six times daily in co-operation with Aeroflot Russian Airlines. The three daily frequencies between Helsinki and St Petersburg will now be flown with an Embraer jet aircraft.

·         An additional daily flight to Gdansk, serving the Polish Baltic Sea city with two daily flights

·         Four additional weekly flights to Edinburgh

·         Four additional weekly flights to Barcelona between June and August bringing to 14 weekly flights

·         Three additional weekly flights to Madrid from June to October bringing to 10 weekly flights

·         Two additional weekly flights to Reykjavik, serving the Icelandic capital with multiple daily flights in co-operation with Icelandair

·         One additional weekly flight to Dublin, Dubrovnik, Malaga, Tel Aviv, Billund, Venice, Chania, Skiathos, Santorini, Rhodes, Heraklion, and Corfu

"Traffic between Europe and Asia continues to grow, and Finnair's expanding network now offers more choice than ever before for our customers," said Finnair Chief Commercial Officer, Juha Järvinen.

"We are also adding frequencies and capacity to popular Europeans destinations to serve the needs of our growing customer base both in Asia and Europe."

Mr Järvinen said Finnair would be increasing its total capacity for the next European Summer by 14 percent over the previous period, including the newly announced route to Nanjing.

Finnair offers excellent connections from Australia with oneworld partners and flies between Asia/North America and Europe with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki.

Finnair carries more than nine million passengers annually and connects 17 cities in Asia and 3 cities in North America with more than 60 destinations in Europe.  Finnair offers excellent connections from Australia with oneworld partners.

Finnair has been named Best International Airline – Offline in the prestigious 2017 AFTA National Travel Industry Awards for the fifth consecutive year.

www.finnair.com/au

Finnair adds Bocuse d’Or candidate as its new Signature Menu chef

Eero Vottonen





Finnair has announced a new partnership with Finnish Chef Eero Vottonen for the airline's latest Signature Menu collaboration. The Signature Menu cooperation with Eero Vottonen will bring true Nordic elements to Finnair's long-haul business class customers flying out of Helsinki to all destinations as of 11 January 2017.

Last year, Eero Vottonen was selected as Finland's candidate for the prestigious Bocuse d'Or competition taking place in Lyon, France in 2017. The Bocuse D'Or is arguably the biggest culinary competition in the world, bringing 24 chefs from different countries to compete on the international stage. During his career, Vottonen has worked in the top kitchens of Finland including restaurants such as Chez Dominique, Luomo, G.W. Sundmans and Olo.

"Eero has fast become one of the best chefs in Scandinavia and we are very excited to offer our long-haul business class passengers with his exceptional food," said Finnair Head of In-Flight Service, Maarit Keränen.

"With next year marking Finland's centennial anniversary, it's a great opportunity for us to collaborate with Finland's candidate for the Bocuse d'Or competition. We'd like to wish Eero all the best as he sets his sights on the final preparations for the prestigious event in January."

"Throughout the past few years, I've been fortunate enough to have the chance to work with many top chefs and I've learned a wide variety of ways and views on food through these experiences," said Eero Vottonen.

"The philosophy I bring to cooking is actually quite simple, the flavour always comes first and I want to use quality ingredients that are sourced from nearby suppliers."

Finnair flies between Asia, Europe and North America with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki, carrying more than nine million passengers annually and connecting 17 cities in Asia and 3 cities in North America with more than 60 destinations in Europe.

Finnair offers excellent connections from Australia with oneworld partners and was named Best International Airline – Offline Carrier in the prestigious AFTA National Travel Industry Awards in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

finnair.com/au