END OF THE MILLENNIUM
The final decade of the millennium was a time of worldwide political changes, new destinations, new premises, new aircraft and new alliances.
Traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn resumed on 26 March 1990. Tallinn had been the first route destination when the company began flight operations in 1924. Weekly flights also began on the route Helsinki-Rovaniemi-Murmansk in June 1990. This trial service was discontinued in September, however.
After the reunification of Germany, Finnair moved its operations to West Berlin and, from 27 October, flights began to use Tegel Airport instead of Schönfeldt.
The first of four MD-11 passenger aircraft ordered by Finnair arrived in Helsinki on 7 December 1990 and began flying five times per week to the Canary Islands. The first flight, to Tenerife, was on 20 December 1990.
An MD-11 service to New York began on 9 May 1992.
Over Siberia to Tokyo
Finnair suspended flights to Istanbul in February 1991 as a result of a crisis in the Middle East. Traffic to Athens was suspended at the same time.
Charter flight traffic suffered most from the consequences of the Persian Gulf crisis. Flights to Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Tunisia, Morocco and Kenya were also suspended.
Finnair gained the right to fly direct to Tokyo over Siberia. The first flight was on 31 May 1991. The flight route adjustment cut the flying time by around three hours.
The flights to Istanbul and Athens that had been suspended due to the Gulf War were resumed in the summer.
In December, the company took delivery of the second of the four MD-11 aircraft it had ordered.
Frequent-flyer scheme introduced
In May 1992 the company introduced the Finnair Plus frequent-flyer award scheme.
Düsseldorf and Riga were introduced to the route network in the summer schedule. A second weekly flight was added on the Beijing route. Scheduled flights to Miami began in October, and scheduled flights began for the first time to Kiev in November 1992.
A direct scheduled service opened to San Francisco in 1993. Other route openings of the summer season 1993 were Kiev and Barcelona.
Head office moves to airport
Finnair head office moved from the Kuparitalo building in Helsinki to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. The official opening at the address Tietotie 11 took place on 11 January 1994.
A joint Finnair and Civil Aviation Administration operating centre was completed at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. Finnair began to move into the centre on 27 May. The flight personnel of Finnair, Karair and Finnaviation, a total of 1,700 people, began to use the building on 29 May.
New summer schedule destinations were Manchester, Vilnius and Petroskoi. In Stockholm, Finnair moved to Terminal 2. Traffic began via Stockholm to Manchester, Berlin and Stuttgart.
On Advent Sunday, 4 December, Finnair aircraft flew once again in the livery of Santa Claus, having previously done so at Christmas 1984. The company has been the official airline of Santa Claus since 1988.
Schengen Agreement comes into force, more than 100 million passengers
The Schengen Agreement, which reduces border formalities in Europe, entered into effect at the start of the summer schedule 1995. New additions to the flight programme were Osaka and Bergen.
Finnair's new look as the Official Airline of the Moomins was unveiled. A substantial marketing campaign was initiated to increase awareness of the Osaka route.
In June an agreement was reached to lease all four DC-10 aircraft to the French airline Air Liberté.
In mid-November, Finnair opened its internet website. In terms of content and scope, Finnair World Wide Wings was one of the most comprehensive services offered by airlines in the world. At that time, nearly 300 HTML pages were available in nine different subject fields.
The number of passengers carried by Finnair during its entire history passed the 100 million mark on 17 December 1995. The Finnair Group carried a new record number of passengers, a total of 5,866,300 people. The previous passenger peak had been in 1989.
Flights become no-smoking, DC10s and hotels given up
At the beginning of the summer schedule 1996, Finnair flights joined the "no-smoking trend". Smoking was only permitted on long-haul flights to Japan and on European flights to France, Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey. At the beginning of the winter schedule, all of Finnair's charter flights of over five and a half hours became no-smoking.
Except for Japanese flights, the company's other flights became no-smoking as of spring 1997. All of Finnair's flights became no-smoking when smoking was finally prohibited on the Tokyo and Osaka flights at the start of the summer schedule on 28 March 1999.
On 14 June 1996, on era in Finnish aviation history ended when the last of Finnair's four DC-10 aircraft, OH-LHA, departed through a lease agreement to France. For 21 years, the DC-10s had carried nearly eight million passengers in Finnair's blue-and-white livery to different parts of the world in a wide range of conditions.
Overall, Finnair clocked up nearly 300,000 flying hours with these first wide-bodied aircraft, which corresponds to a distance of nearly 7,000 times around the world.
On 5 May 1996, Captain Martti Huttunen wrote in the OH-LHA log book after the aircraft reached Helsinki from Recife, Brazil, on the last leg of a round-the-world flight, having flown a total of 16,186 flights and 77,291 hours 44 minutes:
"The DC-10 crews' and the aircrafts' paths are separating, but the fires of love continue to blaze." The 47,000 kilometre round trip crowned the DC-10 fleet's honourable career in the company's service.
Finnair sold a majority shareholding (60%) of its hotel and restaurant subsidiary Nordic-Hotel Oy to Arctia Oy, a subsidiary of Alko-Yhtiöt Oy. At the same time, Finnair also sold the Hotel Inter-Continental on Mannerheimintie for 333 million Finnish marks to a newly established real-estate company, whose owners became Alko-Yhtiöt Oy (41%), Finnair (40%) and Metra Oy Ab (19%).
Finnair also announced its decision to sell its minority stake (49%) in the Savoy Hotel in Moscow.
Boeing 757 arrive, new cargo terminal and record number of passengers
Finnair's female cabin attendants and staff received new uniforms, which were introduced at the start of the summer schedule on 30 March 1997.
Cabin attendants celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their profession on 15 May.
A new Finnair summer destination was Tromsø, to where flights began in June. The route was flown twice a week until the end of September.
The first Finnair Boeing 757 aircraft, OH-LBO, was handed over to the company on 7 October and the second on 16 October. The first leisure flight with the new aircraft took place on 23 October to La Palma and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.
An extension to Finnair's air cargo terminal, which cost 58 million Finnish marks and took more than a year to build, was opened at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport at the beginning of December. The opening ceremony was held on 3 December. The cargo terminal is the largest in the Nordic countries.
Finnair carried a record number of passengers in the calendar year 1997. The total number of passengers flown by the company's aircraft was 6,838,800, which was 10.1 per cent more than the previous year's record.
Joining the oneworld alliance
Finnair and British Airways announced a cooperation agreement on 27 February 1997. British Airways was Finnair's main partner and together the airlines formed the Nordic Alliance.
In August, Finnair's first environmental report was published.
In September, Finnair announced its intention to join the oneworld alliance, which had formed around British Airways, as soon as practical negotiations could be concluded.
Finnair celebrated its 75th birthday on 1 November 1997. Passengers on flights were served chocolate and champagne. Finnair 75th anniversary book, Time Flies (Aika lentää), was published on 3 November 1997.
On 9 December, a press conference was held at which American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas wished Finnair welcome as the first new member of the global oneworld alliance, which had formed in September.
President & CEO Antti Potila retired on 31 December 1998. He was succeeded by Keijo Suila.
A320 aircraft arrive
Finnair's Finnish-language website, www.finnair.fi, was opened at a travel fair on 15 January 1999. The English-language site, which had previously used the address, was moved to www.finnair.com.
Finnair's first Airbus 320 series aircraft, an A321 model, arrived in Finland on 28 January. The new aircraft, registration number OH-LZA, entered commercial service on 5 February with a flight from Helsinki to Oulu.
On 15 April, Finnair sold its remaining stake in the hotel and restaurant business company Nordic-Hotel Oy to Scandic Hotels, the largest hotel chain in the Nordic countries.
Golden Air and Finnair announced on 5 August 1999 that they were expanding their cooperation, which had begun in April. In domestic traffic, Finnair concentrated its resources on jet and ATR-72 turboprop aircraft services.
Golden Air Ab expanded its operations and began flying, with three Saab 340 aircraft, additional routes on which traffic volume did not require the use of aircraft larger than the 34-seat Saab. It was also agreed that passengers could collect Finnair Plus points on Golden Air flights as of 31 October 1999.
Tax-free sales were discontinued on flights in the European Union area on 1 July.
From the beginning of September, Finnair became a full member of the oneworld airline alliance. Iberia became a member the same day. oneworld now consisted of Finnair, American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Iberia and Qantas. oneworld had flights to more than 650 destinations and lounges at more than 230 airports around the world.
Finnair Plc and the company Helsingin Uusi Jalkapalloareena Oy reached an agreement to name the new Helsinki football arena the Finnair Stadium.
Finnair's Flight Training Centre (KOKE) was officially opened. The centre is located on Pyhtäänkorventie, in the vicinity of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.
Finnair Plc and the Thomson Travel Group's Fritidsresor Holding Ab agreed a deal for the shares of Oy Finnmatkat - Finntours Ab, which transferred the ownership of the company to the Fritidsresor Group.
In December 1999, Finnair Plc sold a 60 per cent share of Finnair Gateway Ravintolat Oy, which operates 20 restaurant points at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, to the Gourmet Nova Group.
More detailed reports on the events of the 1990s and 2000s can be found in the Archive.
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