The New World signified a new beginning
The start of long-haul traffic 40 years ago signified the beginning of an entirely new era for Finnair. Plans for launching the route began to advance three years earlier in 1966, when Finnair opened its sales office in Manhattan in the "airline district", at the corner of 5th Avenue and 47th Street. In 1968, the company officially changed its name from Aero to Finnair.
The company's investment decisions and world events have always had an effect on Finnair's New York traffic.
Over its four decades of flights to New York, Finnair has operated four different aircraft types on the route, all of which represented contemporary state of the art technology. The DC-8 aircraft were followed by DC-10s, then the Boeing MD-11s, and most recently the Airbus A330 planes, of which Finnair will take delivery of five over the course of 2009.
More information about Finnair's New York traffic on Finnair blog. Picture gallery is available on www.fav.fi.
Finnair City office was opened in 1966 and it was located centrally on Manhattan at 5th avenue and 47th street. Picture: Finnair Archives.
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