It was on September 1, 1954 that Finnair operated its first service across to London Heathrow from the Finnish capital Helsinki. Fast forward to today and the airline has celebrated operating flights between the two capitals for 70 years.
The Nordic airline’s inaugural flight departed Helsinki flying to Copenhagen and on to Dusseldorf, before finally arriving in London Airport – now known as Heathrow – over eight hours later.
“We are incredibly proud to be celebrating 70 years since our first flight took off for London, and it is great to see how much the route has evolved since 1954,” said Anssi Partanen, Finnair market director for Europe. “London has always been an important city for Finnair, and for our customers, so to mark the route’s platinum anniversary is a huge milestone on our journey.”
Finnair’s connection was initially priced at 55,200 Finnish Marks, approximately £1,900 in today’s money and was operated by a Convair 340/440 Metropolitan, which had capacity for 44 passengers.
In contrast to the route’s original Convair 340/440 Metropolitan aircraft, customers now benefit from flights operated by a mix of the airline’s Airbus fleet, including widebody A350s and A330s featuring lie-flat Business Class seats and inflight entertainment.
The London to Helsinki route remains integral to Finnair’s network, with the airline having just announced a 50% increase in flights on the route, starting from October 27, 2024. The airline will now offer British customers six daily flights between the two capitals, showing its commitment to the UK market.