Finnair ties up with Kingfisher for smooth connectivity to Europe

NEW DELHI - Passengers from major Indian cities travelling to European countries on the Nordic carrier Finnair will now be able to fly on single ticket, thanks to a tie-up with domestic airline Kingfisher.

Finnair has tied up with Kingfisher to allow people travelling from Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Jaipur and Ahmedabad to about 60 European cities on a single booking.

“On one ticket passengers can check their luggage to whatever city they are flying to and the same thing can happen on their way back,” Kari Stolbow, Finnair director for the Indian subcontinent, told IANS.

“This connectivity now means that a flight from Chennai or Bangalore lands just in time for a passenger to very smoothly catch the flight to Helsinki or any other destination. Its not like other airlines, when you arrive in the middle of the night and you have to wait for some hours to make your connection,” added Stolbow.

Also, Kingfisher was inducted into the global airline alliance “OneWorld” earlier this year, which will now enable other airlines in the group to sell tickets for routes operated by the Indian carrier.

The foreign carrier, which has a load factor averaging around 90 on its Delhi and other Asian flights, hopes to expand its market share beyond Delhi through the Kingfisher alliance.

Load factor is a measure of occupancy used in the airline industry and is defined as the percentage of seats occupied to all seats that were on offer.

“This is a big opportunity for us in the next year. In Delhi we have a good, decent market share…but beyond Delhi we are still trying to take the Finnair flag,” said Stolbow.

Currently, Finnair operates six flights a week between New Delhi and Helsinki, which it plans to increase to a daily service from January next year.

The airline serves 11 Asian destinations has and announced flights to Singapore starting May 2011. Asia accounts for nearly half of the airline’s revenue.

The Nordic airline also announced a doubling in the number of points for every passenger enrolled on its frequently flyer programme — “Finnair Plus”. The offer is available on every Finnair flight between Dec 10 and Feb 28, 2011.

“The promotion allows a customer with a Finnair Plus Basic level membership to reach Silver membership status with just one round trip flight between Hong Kong and Madrid with a Y, B or H class fare, for instance,” the airline said.

“In fact, customers can reach Silver membership status by flying any round trip long-haul flight with Finnair from Europe via Helsinki in business class during the promotion period.”