Finnair to open new flight to Hanoi as part of next phase of Europe-Asia growth strategy

Finnair's basic strategy is well-known: the carrier seeks to connect Europe with Asia via its Helsinki hub, which is geographically advantageous and offers connections of about 35 minutes. But within that strategy are different phases: first Finnair looked at linking primary European cities with primary Asian cities and then secondary European cities with primary Asian cities. Now the carrier is increasingly looking at a third phase: linking first and secondary European cities with secondary Asian cities.

It is in this phase where Finnair's newly-announced service to Vietnam's Hanoi fits in. From 14-Jun-2013 Finnair plans to link Helsinki and Hanoi with three weekly services for the northern summer season. It will be the only European carrier (Finnair excludes Aeroflot in this criteria) to offer service to Hanoi, although other carriers, most recently LOT Polish Airlines, attempted it in the past. CEO Mika Vehviläinen, speaking at CAPA's World Aviation Summit in Hong Kong on 28-Nov-2012, noted the service is not a clear-shot victory but Finnair does expect long-term success.