Elaborating on its expansion plans at a press conference on Wednesday, Finnair Senior Vice-President, corporate communications, Christer Haglund, said, “Finnair passengers constantly fly in the right direction along the shortest and most eco efficient route from India to northern Europe. The airline has made these expansion plans keeping in mind the increasing traffic growth from Asia.”

From training its cabin crew in various Indian languages and its chefs for Indian cuisines to organising Indian culture courses for the Finnair staff, the airline is leaving no stone unturned to satiate Indian tastes and preferences.

While the overall passenger traffic for Finnair grew by 13 per cent, Asia traffic grew by over 30 per cent in 2007-08. In 2006, Finnair operated 3 flights a week from India, which were increased to 13 in 2007.

“We will soon have the most modern European fleet. Two new Airbus A340 long haul aircraft will join Finnair's fleet soon, increasing the Asian traffic growth even further,” Haglund said.

Also present at the conference, Seppo Keranen, chairman of Finpro and Indo Finish Business Council, said that there was tremendous scope for business opportunities in Finland with its position at number six in the global competitive index.