Interview: How Finnair’s CEO Plans to Crack the Chinese Market
Photo Credit: Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo is betting his company's future on Asia, especially the Chinese market. With a fleet of new Airbus A350s, it has the right plane for the routes. Finnair
Skift Take
Not every airline can be a global behemoth. Finnair mostly focuses on its niche — connecting Europe with Asia, including secondary Chinese cities.
Future of Passenger Experience
To better understand the challenges facing airlines in an age of fluctuating oil prices, rapid growth, and changing passenger expectations, our Future of Passenger Experience series will allow leaders in the industry to explain their best practices and insights.While many of its European competitors, like Lufthansa Group, fly to most major global cities, Finnair tries to focus on what it does best — connecting Europe with Asia.
It's a strategy that allows the airline to take advantage of the location of its Helsinki hub. For most of Europe, Finland is on the way to Asia, and Finnair, which flies the newest and most fuel-efficient widebody Airbus jet, the A350, has the right fleet for the routes.
But travelers in major European capitals generally can reach larger Asian cities, like Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing, nonstop on their home-country carriers. So while Finnair flies to those larger markets, it also connects European cities with secondary cities in Asia, sometimes flying to airports with little, or no, European competition.
Finnair might not be the perfect airline for a Londoner headed to Tokyo, but it's well-positioned to attract someone from London, Paris, Madrid or Brussels seeking fast, on
