Finnair looking to fly to more destinations in India, says General Manager Sakari Romu

A Finnair Airbus A330.

Finland’s flag carrier, Finnair, is keen to expand its footprint in India from the current two destinations that it serves, Sakari Romu, General Manager, Finnair, said.

“I would not be happy if we are serving only two destinations in India, let's say, after two years or so. We are very actively looking for possibilities to open more destinations in India. Looking at the world and the restrictions, for instance, the Russian air space closure also makes India more interesting for an airline. But I wouldn't say that we are looking at India just because of an opportunity to serve countries like China, and Japan (is) limited because of restrictions and because of very long flight times and so on. I think the Indian economy is actually the biggest reason why Finnair is looking at India,” Romu said.

Currently, the airline is operating a daily flight to Delhi and is to start a thrice-a-week service to Mumbai from this month.

Romu added that there are a lot of opportunities in India outside Delhi and Mumbai, and that Finnair is looking at new destinations on a daily basis. “We haven't made any concrete (or) final decision, but it is easy to find out that after Delhi and Mumbai come Bengaluru, Chennai, and so on,” Romu said. Finnair, which was founded in 1923, is among the oldest airlines in the world.

Sakari Romu.

Asked whether Finnair is looking to expand into India through the clause in the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016, which states that the Indian government will enter into an ‘Open sky’ Air Services Agreement on a reciprocal basis with countries with territory located beyond a radius of 5,000 km from New Delhi, Romu said, “We have never faced any challenge in getting new permits to operate to new destination or to add more frequencies.” Helsinki is well beyond 5,000 km from New Delhi.

Romu admitted that the decision by London’s Heathrow airport to restrict the number of flights an airline can operate there was making it difficult for Finnair to sell London as a destination in India.

“We have been forced to take one return flight out. So, certainly that is limiting the opportunities to sell London and UK from India,” he said. From the middle of July this year, Heathrow has restricted the number of passengers each airline can fly into the airport at 100,000 a day, a move that met with protests from many airlines globally, including Emirates. Emirates issued a strongly-worded statement calling on the shareholders of London Heathrow to scrutinise the decisions of the LHR (London Heathrow) management team.

Interestingly, Finnair does not insist on an EU visa for travellers flying from India to the UK. “If you stay in a transit area, and if you don't leave the airport, or if you are not going through passport control, you don't need to have an EU visa,” Romu said. Since Britain exited the European Union, some countries have asked travellers to get an EU visa while travelling via those countries on their way to Britain.