Qatar Airways lands in Helsinki

Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker and the Finnish Ambassador to Qatar,  Riitta Swan travelled on board the inaugural flight and were greeted by a VIP delegation including Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications,  Anne Berner; the President and chief executive officer of Finavia, Kari Savolainen; the chief executive officer of Visit Helsinki, Tuulikki Becker; and Finpro Executive vice president, head of visit Finland, Paavo Virkkunen. 

The airline flew one of its new-generation Airbus A350 aircraft to Helsinki, and will operate the daily Helsinki service with an Airbus A320 going forward. Qatar Airways’ Airbus A320 has a two-class configuration with 12 seats in Business Class and 120 seats in Economy Class.

The launch of the new route to Helsinki completes Qatar Airways’ network strategy of serving Nordic capitals, which currently includes Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo, and reinforces its commitment to serving the people of Northern Europe.

To support the new destination launch, the airline also announced a new code-share partnership with Finnair, which is effective from today, expanding Qatar Airways’ presence in the Baltic States and Nordic countries while strengthening Finnair’s network in the Middle East and beyond.

Al Baker said: “Launching our new route to Helsinki is a proud moment for the airline, completing our strategy of serving the needs of Europe’s Nordic capitals and facilitating connections for businesses, cultures and families between Finns and people throughout the world. With this new service, the people of Helsinki have convenient and world-class air service to more destinations, and we look forward to welcoming our new customers on board.”