TBM Staff - Mumbai Finnair will finally be starting non-stop flights between Mumbai and Helsinki next month. Finland’s flag carrier, which started flying to Delhi from 2006 and currently has a daily on this route, had briefly launched Mumbai flights in 2008. But the global economic meltdown forced the airline to suspend the same soon after launch, reports Saurabh Sinha for TOI.
The Mumbai service will now start as a thrice weekly — ironically during yet another global economic downturn— and go up to four times a week from this November.
“India is the number one growth market of Asia at the moment. We are looking at other cities in the country. Personally, I will be happy to see four destinations here in the next two years,” Sakari Romu, Finnair GM, India, of commercial division.
Finnair will operate its Airbus A330 between Mumbai and Helsinki on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
Finnair connects customers to nearly 70 destinations in Europe and five destinations in the US — Seattle, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Speaking about the Mumbai launch, Finnair GM Desmond Chacko said: “As the world opens up to travel, it is an opportune time to expand operations and enable better connectivity for our customers. After Delhi, Mumbai is a major airline hub in India and is home to leading global businesses. Our new services will enable both business & leisure travel from the region as global economies gradually recover from the impact of the Covid-19.”
