Finnair will begin flying to Xian in summer 2013, further deepening the airline’s network of Asian destinations.
HELSINKI- Finnair will begin offering the service to Xian from its hub in Helsinki with three frequencies per week starting 14 June until the end of the summer season on 26 October 2013. The first direct connection between Xian and Europe is Finnair’s latest step toward its goal of doubling Asian revenue by 2020.
Finnair earlier announced a new summer connection to Hanoi from 15 June, also with three frequencies per week.
“I’m very excited and pleased to announce Xian as our fifth destination in China,” says Finnair CEO Mika Vehvilainen. “The fast-growing Chinese economy continues to fuel rapid growth in demand for air travel to and from Europe, and to open up new opportunities for Finnair. We have a history of pioneering better connections between Europe and China going back to 1988, when we began flying to Beijing. We look forward to building on that history and offering the quickest and smoothest itineraries between dozens of European destinations and Xian.”
Located in central-northwest China, Xian is a metropolis of about 8 million people and a growing centre in the development of China’s aerospace and software industries. The city is also an ancient imperial capital and an historic cradle of Chinese civilisation. The world-famous Terracotta Army, the vast collection of burial sculptures found around the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, is located about 40 km to the east of the city centre.
Earlier this year, Finnair became the first airline to directly connect Europe with Chongqing, another fast-growing inland megacity. Elsewhere in China, Finnair also flies to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. A further eight destinations round out Finnair’s Asian network: Bangkok, Delhi, Hanoi, Nagoya, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
