Finnair Trades on Great Circle Advantage
Finnair is a CFM customer with a very real but little-known success story, which is contributing in a major way to more efficient travel.

Finnair is a CFM customer with a very real but little-known success story, which is contributing in a major way to more efficient travel. Over the past few years, the Nordic carrier has found that demand has surged for services from smaller European cities to Asia via Helsinki, as Internet booking engines and computer reservation systems place it at the top of search results for routes to Asia. It maintains that passengers can save two to three hours by not dog-legging through traditional mega hubs such as London, Paris or Amsterdam.

The secret is that Finland’s capital, Helsinki, lies close to the ideal “great circle” route from western Europe to Asia, and computerized systems have reintroduced travelers to the fact that the world is round. Finnair has even taken to handing out inflatable globes to reinforce its point.