Finnair Joins PATA as Newest Aviation Member
Helsinki (Finland) – May 29, 2017 (travelindex.com) – Finnair, the flag carrier for Finland and a member of the oneworld alliance, has joined the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). The carrier, headquartered in Helsinki, is majority owned by the Government of Finland and listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Finnair to the PATA family as our newest aviation member and the first Nordic airline to join in recent years. The airline is not only a leader in sustainable practices but also in pioneering new technologies such as testing face recognition technology for use by travellers when checking in for flights departing from Helsinki airport.”
According to PATA, international visitor arrivals (IVAs) to the Asia Pacific region are forecast to reach almost 760 million by 2021, with over 76 million IVAs coming from European source markets.
“As a PATA member we look forward to working with Finnair as the airline seeks to build both brand and business in the Asia Pacific region by taking full advantage of PATA’s extensive network and the in-depth research and insights provided by the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre,” added Dr. Hardy.
“Finnair is proud to join PATA, as Finnair’s growth strategy is strongly linked to the Asia & Pacific region. Serving 18 Asian destinations non-stop from Helsinki, offering one of the fastest and most seamless connections between Europe and Asia, it is a natural step for us to join this leading association. We want to further develop our business and intensify the ties between us and important local tourism authorities, associations and regional/local companies,” states Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Board Member at Finnair.
Established in 1923, Finnair is the world’s fifth oldest airline with uninterrupted existence.
The airline operates services throughout Europe and to 18 cities in Asia and seven cities in North America with emphasis upon seamless connectivity at its Helsinki hub.
Finnair carried 10,9 million passengers in 2016. The airline, a pioneer in sustainable flying, was the first European airline to operate the next-generation, eco-smart Airbus A350 XWB aircraft and it is the first airline listed in the Leadership Index of the worldwide Carbon Disclosure Project.
Finnair is the only Nordic carrier with a 4-star Skytrax ranking and has also won the World Airline Award for Best Airline Northern Europe for the past seven consecutive years.
About PATA
Founded in 1951, PATA is a not-for-profit membership association that acts a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, comprising 95 government, state and city tourism bodies, 25 international airlines and airports, 108 hospitality organisations, 72 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 36 local PATA chapters worldwide. The chapters organise travel industry training and business development events. Their grassroots activism underpins PATA’s membership of the Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC), which includes ACI, CLIA, IATA, ICAO, WEF, UNWTO and the WTTC. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members’ desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing, Sydney and London.