Korea emerges as strategic hub for Finnair's growth in Asia

Finnair has identified Korea as one of Asia’s most strategic markets, with demand for the country on the gradual rise due to its growing cultural and economic influences abroad, top executives from the flag carrier of Finland said during a recent interview. They displayed strong affection for Korea, as the country comes with bigger potential for further growth, compared to other Asian markets, such as China and Japan. Finnair offers seven direct flights connecting Incheon and Helsinki each week, and it started flying to Korea 15 years ago. “During the pandemic, all the demand for passenger flights disappeared, but demand for cargo was strong, and the very first cargo-only flight we flew was to Seoul, which was Mar. 28, 2020,” said Ole Orver, CCO at Finnair. “We carried important goods from Seoul to Europe, and this is a sign of the importance of Korea to Finland, and Finland to Korea,” he said. Finnair Korea General Manager Kim Dong-hwan also spoke highly of the growth potential of the Korean market, citing the country’s growing cultural profile across the globe. “We believe there is more growth potential in Korea, compared with the two other Asian markets,” he said. “This is because of Korea’s increasing cultural influence, as K-pop, K-culture and K-movies spread across the world and those are getting stronger day by day. Demand from Europe to Korea has been highly increasing.” Finnair is also seeking to attract more Korean customers to the Northern European nation by enhancing its in-flight services. According to the airline, it hired a total of 26 Korean flight attendants this year alone. Two Korean flight attendants are typically on board the airplane while operating routes from Korea to other countries, but Finnair decided to double the number for the Incheon-Helsinki route in November, in a move to increase its market share here.<br/>