Finnair Expands Nordic Network

DALLAS — Nordic airline Finnair (AY) has announced the expansion of its influence in the Nordic region of Europe by relaunching services between Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL) and Stockholm-Bromma Airport (BMA), starting from October 29, 2023.

Stockholm-Bromma is the second-largest airport in the capital of Sweden. Its convenient location of just 4.6 miles from downtown Stockholm makes it a very important regional gateway to the city, and it is the main hub for Braathens Regional Airlines (TF), one of Sweden's largest domestic airlines, and partner of AY.

HEL-BMA flights are set to operate twice a day on mornings and afternoons from Monday to Friday, with the addition of one single service on Sundays for passengers looking to arrange weekend trips to Stockholm on board AY.

This service is an expansion to Finnair's presence in Sweden, as the Nordic carrier already operates nine flights every day to the capital's biggest airport; Stockholm-Arlanda (ARN), four daily to Gothenburg (GOT), and more seasonal services to unique cities such as Visby (VBY), located on the island of Gotland.

Adding a second service to BMA makes sense for Finnair, as it will attract the division of passengers willing to invest in a flight arriving closer to the city center, like business travelers. Photo: Google Earth

Quick and Efficient Connections to Sweden

One of the main presumable reasons behind the addition of a second service to BMA is the partnership Finnair holds with BRA, which can offer passengers to experience a quicker method to reach Stockholm's city center from Bromma.

Additionally, customers will enjoy Braathens' enormous presence in the Swedish territory, enabling them to connect onwards on TF flights to 13 destinations across the country, operating a solid fleet of 14 ATR 72-600 aircraft configured in a standard 72-seat layout.

Braathens is currently going through an international expansion process as well, thanks to the foundation of a new subsidiary with the name of Braathens International Airways (TT), which has been assigned already four Airbus A319s, aiming to serve flights to leisure destinations such as Tenerife (TFS), in the Canary Islands.

On the multiple daily flights to Arlanda, Finnair makes use of all its regional and short-haul fleets, like ATR 72, Airbus A320, and Embraer ERJ family aircraft. Photo: Alberto Cucini/Airways.

Finnair's Route Network

Since its foundation in 1923, AY has focused its route network on offering flights not only to and from its main hub in Helsinki but also on advertising convenient flight itineraries for passengers wanting to connect from Europe to Eastern Asia, taking advantage of its perfect geographic location between the two continents.

On April 4, 2022, the airline celebrated its 40th anniversary of serving direct flights from Helsinki to Tokyo-Narita Airport (NRT). Since 1983, AY has positioned itself as one of the leading airlines flying passengers from all parts of Western Europe to Japan, South Korea, and China, among many other Asian countries.

Today, however, after the closure of Russian airspace to most European airlines, Finnair has found itself in a challenging situation having to extend its flight times by avoiding Siberian territory. This event has also made AY value more its influence in the Nordic region, and it finalized the opening of bases in the Scandinavian region such as Stockholm-Arlanda for long-haul travel.

Finnair recently announced a new step to achieve its sustainability goals by cutting off low-demand regional flights to Tampere (TMP) and Turku (TKU), which have been substituted by bus rides to Helsinki, instead.

Featured image: Finnair Airbus A319 (OH-LVA). Photo: Alberto Cucini/Airways.