Under the Northern Skies

UNDER THE

NORTHER N SKIES – 100 STORIES CELEBRATING FLYING –

| VIEW FROM THE COCKPIT | KING CRAB FLIES CARGO | WELCOME TO HEL | | STYLE IN THE SKIES | DISCOVERIES WITH NOBEL LAUREATE BENGT HOLMSTRÖM | LOVE IN THE AIR | | FINNISH SNOW-HOW | BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE AIRPORT |

UNDER THE

NORTHERN SKIES – 100 STORIES CELEBRATING FLYING –

UNDER THE

NORTHER N SKIES – 100 STORIES CELEBRATING FLYING –

EDITORIAL BOARD

PRODUCTION

Johanna Jäkälä Taru Kettunen Arja Suominen Päivyt Tallqvist

Fokus Media Finland

EDITORS Anu Piippo Amanda Soila

FINNAIR HEAD OFFICE Tietotie 9 A, Helsinki Airport, 01053 Finnair, Finland tel. +358 (0)9 818 81

ENGLISH EDITORS

firstname.lastname@ finnair.com

Josefina Hatara Sirpa Ärmänen

FIND US ONLINE

BUSINESS UNIT DIRECTOR

finnair.com finnair.fi finnairgroup.com

Tanja Piipponen

Finnair @Finnair

Silja Kudel Shelly Nyqvist

ART DIRECTORS

FOKUS MEDIA FINLAND OY Hämeentie 153 C, 00560 Helsinki, Finland firstname.lastname@ fokusmedia.fi

@feelfinnair

©2017 Finnair.

All rights reserved.

Printing: Otava Book Printing Ltd, Keuruu, Finland 2017.

Published in June 2017.

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Dear reader,

F

inland celebrates the centenary of its independence in 2017, and Finnair as the national carrier naturally joins the celebration both in the air and on the ground. We are proud to be a part of the past, present and future of Finland.

For us at Finnair, being Finnish is a part of our heritage and it is present in every part of our operations, from the precise punctuality of our flights to the decidedly Nordic design of our cabins and lounges. It is also visible in our strategy, which builds on the geographical location of our home country, enabling us to connect Europe and Asia with fast connections. Being Finnish is also a part of the everyday encounters that take place on Finnair flights and behind the scenes of our operations.

In this book, we take you on a journey of 100 encounters that have taken place under the Northern skies.

In the first section, Encounters, we look at quick and passing moments in the sky – such as items consumed and used during a single flight from Helsinki to New York.

In Kindred spirits, we discuss longer term developments and relationships that have evolved over the years, such as snow-how at Helsinki airport, and tips from well-travelled Finnair customers.

Finally, in Soulmates, we look at long and deep relationships – such as love that started on a Finnair flight, and the birth and life of Finnair’s Asian strategy.

The 100 years of Finnish independence is filled with meaningful encounters and relationships. We wanted to share some of ours to celebrate this special year, and hope to create many more over the next 100 years.

I wish you a pleasant journey under the Northern skies.

Pekka Vauramo CEO, FINNAIR

Under the Northern Skies

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ENCOUNTERS page 10

FEATURE THE CURIOUS WORLD OF SKY TIME

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FASHION CABIN STYLE THROUGH THE YEARS

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BUSINESS HOW TRAVELLING FOR BUSINESS HAS CHANGED

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HISTORY THE STORY OF HELSINKI AIRPORT IS FULL OF TWISTS

KINDRED SPIRITS 48

FEATURE HOW FINLAND’S FAMOUS SNOW-HOW KEEPS AIRPORTS RUNNING

PHOTO ESSAY PHOTOGRAPHER JANNE LEHTINEN DREAMS OF DEFYING GRAVITY

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INSIGHTS LOOKING FOR ZEN IN THE CABIN

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STAFF MEET THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE FINNAIR

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INTERVIEW PILOT HEIKKI TOLVANEN SHARES A VIEW FROM THE COCKPIT

PROFILE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER BENGT HOLMSTRÖM ON NORDIC ROOTS AND JOURNEYS TO DISCOVERIES

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INFOGRAPHIC BEHIND THE SCENES AT HELSINKI AIRPORT

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QUICK BITES A SURPRISING NUMBER OF EVERYDAY ITEMS ON HELSINKI-NYC FLIGHTS

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SPECIAL FREIGHT KING CRABS FLY FINNAIR FROM NORWAY TO SEOUL

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SKY FOOD WHAT TASTES GOOD AT 30,000 FEET?

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SNAPSHOT AIRPORT HAPPENSTANCES

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LOST AND FOUND ITEMS WE LEAVE BEHIND

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CONTENTS

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There are 100 stories in this bookazine – some articles feature one story while others comprise several.

By following these numbers you can read them all.

SOULMATES 62

FEATURE HOW FINNAIR’S ASIAN STRATEGY WAS BORN

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INTERVIEW AT HOME IN TWO COUNTRIES

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FEATURE THE INTRIGUING ITEMS INSIDE A CARGO HOLD

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LOVE STORIES SPECIAL MOMENTS IN THE AIR

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FEATURE HOW AVIATION SHIFTED FINLAND TO THE GEOGRAPHICAL CENTRE

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LOCAL VIEWS BUILDING THE PERFECT LAPLAND EXPERIENCE

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DISCOVERY TESTING AN AIRPORT SAUNA

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DESIGN THE STORIES OF FINNAIR AND FINNISH DESIGN ICONS GO HANDIN-HAND

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FLEET AIRCRAFT EVOLUTION

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RECYCLING WHAT HAPPENS TO A RETIRED AIRCRAFT?

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SHORT STORY NOVELIST EMMI ITÄRANTA CREATES A PIECE OF FICTION INSPIRED BY FLYING

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YOUNG VISONS A GROUP OF 16-YEAR-OLDS SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE Under the Northern Skies

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Encounters THE BEAUTY OF ENCOUNTERS arises from the element of surprise.

When we travel, these chance meetings with people, cultures and phenomena are the life and soul of the experience. They encourage us to think fresh, be open-minded and discover new ways of looking at the world.

Meaningful encounters also form the core of Finnair’s operations. In this section, we focus on those intriguing snippets that make the world of flying so fascinating. We meet travellers passing through Helsinki Airport, take a sneak peek at how inflight menus are created and find out what are the most commonly left behind items on an airplane.

This section covers stories 1–36.

Photo by Getty Images

Under the Northern Skies | Encounters

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FEATURE

TEXT BY DANIEL ALLEN

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PHOTOS BY FINNAIR, COMPANIES

Time flies Long gone are the days when wristwatches were critical flying tools. But in today’s digitised, superfast world, time management remains just as important to aeronauts and aviation professionals.

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nder a thick eiderdown of grey cloud, Finnair Flight 73 accelerates down runway 3 at Helsinki Airport. The Airbus A330-302’s twin engines accelerate the aircraft to takeoff speed, and the elegant airliner climbs rapidly into a darkening sky. Heading east at over 800 kilometres per hour, pilots and passengers are about to enter the timeless world of international flight.

Most of us now subscribe to the economies of convenience and speed. Journeys that once took weeks or months are now possible in a few hours, available to all with the swipe of a credit card or touch of a keyboard.

Nevertheless, the concept of time is just as relevant today as it was when a journey between London and Brisbane took nearly two weeks.

“Despite technological progress, accurate timekeeping in aviation is still incredibly important,” says Janne Lumia, Finnair’s Fleet Chief Pilot. “During flight a

pilot will typically check on the time and remaining fuel roughly every ten minutes.”

Nearly ten hours after departure, the undercarriage of flight 73 kisses the tarmac at Tokyo’s Narita Airport. Thanks to its GPS systems, which also provide the exact time at any one airborne location, the plane has followed an exact route over the icy wilderness of Siberia and the Russian Far East.

As they disembark into the bright light of a new day, passengers wind their watches forward to local time. The only thing they have lost is seven hours of terrestrial sleep. Yet wind the clock back a century, and things were very different for the world’s earliest airborne navigators.

CHRONOLOGICAL COLLABORATION While the story of the Wright ­Brothers­­ and their seminal role in the history of flying is well known, far fewer of us are »

Under the Northern Skies | Encounters

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Santos, it could be used for navigation and to calculate fuel burn, as well as for accurate timekeeping. The era of the aviator watch had begun.

BURGEONING TECHNOLOGY

Modern aviators can now choose whether they use their instrumentation or own watch to measure processes.

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familiar with the name Alberto Santos­Dumont. Which is a shame, because the life of this wealthy Brazilian and pioneer of aviation is a colourful tale of eccentricity and bravado.

Born in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais in 1873, Santos-Dumont moved to Paris with his parents when he was 18. With his head already in the air, he immediately set off for the Eiffel Tower to ride on the escalators. He was soon dreaming of a world in which everyone had their own individual hot air balloon, and won a 20,000 USD (€18,750) prize in 1901 for flying around the Eiffel Tower in a homemade dirigible.

The irrepressible Santos-Dumont soon graduated from balloons to heavier-than-air flying machines. In October 1906 he flew 60 metres in the 14-bis, or 14 Mark II, a rudimentary airplane constructed largely from bamboo and piano wire, and powered by a stuttering 24 horsepower motor. Three years after the Wright Brothers’ “Flyer” took to the air in North Carolina, it was the first public flight in Europe.

He may have been outflown by the Americans, but Santos-Dumont broke new ground in one respect. It was during the course of his airborne exploits that the Brazilian experienced difficulties extricating his pocket watch, and complained about this to his good friend, the renowned Parisian watchmaker Louis Cartier.

In 1904, Santos-Dumont took to the air wearing Cartier’s resultant creation – one of the first ever wristwatches – attached to his arm with a leather strap and small, ornate buckle. A stylish (and later mass-produced) timepiece named

As aviation took off during the First World War, wristwatches became increasingly sophisticated and commonplace. In 1931, American aviator Charles Lindbergh and Swiss watchmaker Longines teamed up to release a model that pilots could use with a sextant and nautical almanac to calculate longitude.

“In those days navigation was solely based on manual timing and visual clues, so it was pretty easy for pilots to lose their bearings,” says Markku Lehti, CEO of De Motu Watches, a Finnish watch company based at Helsinki-Malmi Airport. “Wind speed measurements were inaccurate, thus it was extremely important to perform constant time, speed, heading and position checks.”

In Finland, where navigation was based on dead reckoning (a method of navigation relying on earlier known positions), visual check points and beacons lit during the long nights of the Finnish winter, accurate timekeeping was often a matter of life and death.

“For aviators and ground-based aviation personnel, measuring time was equally important,” says Lehti. “The illumination of beacons was based on the estimated flight time of aircraft navigating between airports.”

Breitling, another Swiss watchmaker, won a contract in 1936 to provide Britain’s Royal Air Force with cockpit clocks. By that stage the company’s watches already had various timing and conversion rulers available, enhancing their usefulness for pilots. More than 70 years since they were introduced, slide rule bezels are still an iconic feature of many Breitling watches.

“Some people still use these bezels to perform basic calculations,” says Breitling CEO Jean-Paul Girardin. ”I always convert Swiss Francs into Euros with mine.

It never needs batteries.”

Photo: 2000 © Cartier

In 1904, Alberto Santos-Dumont took to the air wearing one of the first ever wristwatches. The Cartier Santos Dumont watch has since then become a classic.

American aviator Charles Lindbergh and Swiss watchmaker Longines teamed up in 1931 to release a model for pilots.

Omega Seamaster was the watch of choice for years for Finnair’s Fleet Chief Pilot Janne Lumia.

TIMELESS IMPORTANCE These days high-end watches from brands such as Cartier and Breitling are marketed as much at aviator buffs as they are at professional pilots. Yet accurate time measurement remains vital for all involved in aviation.

With an accurate timepiece and magnetic compass still found in the cockpit of every aircraft, modern aviators can now choose whether they use their instrumentation or own watch to measure processes such as de-icing treatments, engine start cycles and take-off thrust limits.

“I’ve used my Omega Seamaster for years, but nowadays I often end up using a Garmin sportwatch,” says Janne Lumia. “On the ground it’s connected to my phone using bluetooth and I can see incoming calls and messages from the watch when my phone is on silent mode.”

Over a century since Santos-Dumont’s 14-bis first left the ground, neither pilots nor airline passengers fumble for pocket watches as they take to the air, but the legacy of the courageous Brazilian lives on in the sky time we live and work by. ●

A UNIVERSAL STANDARD TO ENSURE EVERYONE is working on the same time, the global aviation industry has used UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) since 1972, when it replaced GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

“All schedules are now based in UTC, and converted to local time for passengers,” explains Jukka Huhtala, Duty Manager Operations at Finnair’s Control Centre in Helsinki.

“Based on atomic watches, UTC is measured in constant seconds, whereas the value of a GMT second varies very slightly due to vagaries in the Earth’s orbit.”

“UTC time is the only time visible in the cockpit, and is always used by pilots when they are in contact with air traffic control, regardless of where the plane is in the world, or whether it’s in the air or on the ground,” adds Finnair’s Janne Lumia. “For a pilot it is extremely important that variables such as estimated take-off and approach times are expressed clearly so that there is no possibility for error.”

Under the Northern Skies | Encounters

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FASHION

TEXT BY MILA PENTTI

PHOTOS BY FINNAIR ARCHIVES

Fly in style Take a walk down memory lane and prepare yourself for a runway show. Here we present a few milestones from Finnair’s 70 years of flight attendant fashion by style icons including Vuokko Eskolin-Nurmesniemi and Björn Weckström.

FUTURISTIC FABULOUS

CARE-FREE STYLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS When Finnair’s air hostesses first took to the skies in 1947, Finnair’s name was Aero and the uniforms were serious and included a flight cap. The dark blue, military style outfit was adorned with gold buttons engraved with a crowned lion, which is the Finnish national coat of arms. Due to a shortage of sheer hosiery in Finland during the post-war years, nylons had to be purchased from Sweden.

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The 1960s were a very strong decade in Finnish design and fashion. During the summer of 1969, the Americans landed on the moon and Finnair staked out new territory: the Atlantic crossing.

The airline wanted to arrive in New York City in style and make a lasting impression; the most celebrated Finnish designers at the time were put in charge.

Tapio Wirkkala designed glassware, porcelain and cutlery; Dora Jung created new table linens; and 22-year-old emerging Finnish fashion talent Kari Lepistö designed the uniforms in the spirit of the Space Age. The hem of the skirt was considerably shorter and the shirt was bright silver. A sapphire mink cap finished the look.

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A LIGHTER AND BRIGHTER SUMMER LOOK While working for Mari­mekko from 1953 to 1960, designer Vuokko Eskolin-Nurmes­ niemi radicalised Finnish fashion by liberating women from tight-fitting dresses which were made to be worn with a corset. One of the main reasons for this was that Eskolin-Nurmesniemi did not want to break up the large motifs on her textiles. A pioneer, she came up with new ideas on how to create a garment with as few seams as possible. Her designs were easy-going, loose, bold and graphic. And the summer uniforms designed for Finnair followed this same pattern. The outfit was either bright apple green or yellow accompanied by a matching round cap designed by Kari Lepistö. These outfits were used during the summer months from 1973 to 1975.

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A HOST WITH A MISSION Specially trained hostesses were 5 hired to attend to the first class passengers on long-haul flights from 1969. Referred to as Finn Hostesses, these women were easily recognised by their full-length dress. A design competition for their uniform was held every year, and the winning outfit was used each spring to promote Finnish fashion. The first graphical blue and white dress was created by fashion designer Anna-Liisa Nieminen and textile designer Nana Suni.

The Finn Hostesses accessorised their uniforms with designer Björn Weckström’s series of outer space silver accessories – a brooch depicting a figure standing in a celestial scenery.

Originally his aim was to picture a wintry Finnish landscape, which was later switched from earth to space to match the mood of the era. The necklace worn

by Princess Leia in Star Wars (1977) is a follow-up on this theme designed by Weckström for Lapponia Jewelry. Every year the Finn Hostess outfit was updated, but the brooch remained the same.

NOSTALGIC CHIC The inflight uniform has come full circle with the newest creations by designer Ritva-Liisa Pohjalainen, who was chosen to re-cast the look in 2011. Her uniforms are classic and embrace a bit of nostalgia.

The designs have fresh clean lines that are in perfect harmony with the cabin appearance that promotes Finnish design. And Finnair has grown from six flight attendants in 1947 to more than 2,000 today. For an individual look, the cabin crew is now given several options to choose from, while the overall appearance stays homogeneous. And the flight cap is back! ●

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Finnair’s inflight crew has grown from six flight attendants in 1947 to more than 2,000 today.

Under the Northern Skies | Encounters

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BUSINESS

TEXT BY MIRVA LEMPIÄINEN

PHOTO BY FINNAIR

A direct flight makes a difference For years Finnair’s ever-growing network of direct flights has helped Finnish businesses expand their international footprint. We share three globalisation stories from the 1980s to today.

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hen Finnair launched direct flights to the United States in 1984, the good news was welcomed by Finnish engineering 8 companies. At the time, Finnish know-how was gaining traction around the world and many businesses were expanding their operations outside Europe.

One fast mover was Wärtsilä, a Helsinki-based engineering conglomerate specialising in shipbuilding and engines.

Founded in 1834, the corporation now operates in more than 70 countries and has a highly diversified portfolio focused on marine and energy production.

Fred Danska, director of Wärtsilä’s cruise business, still remembers the buzz surrounding the new direct NYC flights.

“It became very easy to get to the US,” says Danska.

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During his nearly 40 years in the business, Danska has clocked up hundreds of flight hours. In the 1980s he travelled frequently to Chile and India, often staying two weeks at a time.

Danska was also a frequent flier to New York. One mid-1980s flight in particular remains ingrained in his memory.

Back then, as Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyards marketing manager, he mostly travelled in Economy Class. On this flight, however, he was lucky enough to be upgraded to first class (what is now called Business Class).

Upon entering the plane, the young man realised his seatmate was the famous Finnish influencer Bror “Buntta” Wahlroos, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

“I didn’t know how to approach such an important man,” says Danska.

Instead he took out his new portable computer, a clunky Data General-One

weighing a whopping four kilograms.

“What can you do with that?” Wahlroos asked. “Play chess, for instance,” answered Danska. The two got to talking since it turned out that Wahlroos was interested in chess.

“Let’s order caviar!” suggested Wahlroos after a while. And, sure enough, the two were soon spooning caviar and playing computer chess together.

“Air travel was definitely more glamorous back in those days,” reminisces Danska.

He fondly recalls the generous catering services – though sometimes the generosity grew overwhelming, such as when Danska flew from Europe to Chile and was served no fewer than eight meals during the journey.

“My mother taught me to always finish my plate. So I practically rolled out of the plane in Santiago,” he says, with a laugh. »

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PAPER EXPANDS TO ASIA Paper production was among Finland’s top industries for decades. After the European market started slowing in the 1980s and 1990s, Finnish paper companies began expanding eastward. Finnair followed suit, launching direct flights to Tokyo in 1983 and Beijing in 1988.

“Finnair’s Asian expansion has been a big deal in the paper business,” says Tom Karlsson, a Finnish paper industry veteran. The new Asian connections were “like one big celebration,” he says.

Karlsson retired as a sales manager in 2012 from a paper mill based in Lohja, a city in southern Finland. Founded in 1906, the mill went by several names during its century-long history, Lohjan Paperi Oy being one example.

Like many Finnish paper businesses, the company eventually built a factory in China to save on operating costs and to be closer to the emerging Asian paper market.

During the 1980s Lohjan Paperi Oy also operated a factory in Manchester, England, while Karlsson worked for the company’s sales office in London.

Finnair’s direct flight from Helsinki to Manchester became a familiar route for him.

From 1987 onwards, when living back in Finland, Karlsson often travelled for business from Helsinki to Tokyo and other Asian cities, flying with Finnair over the North Pole.

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“After the fall of the Soviet Union, it became possible to fly over Russia,” he says, recalling how this significantly sped up the journey to Japan. The faster connections to Asia meant that Karlsson was able to go on much shorter business trips.

Instead of living out of a suitcase for a month, he started paying separate weeklong visits to countries like Japan, China, Thailand and Singapore.

Occasionally Karlsson upgraded himself to Business Class with his Finnair Plus points. “But I usually flew home in coach. When you’re tired, you’ll sleep anywhere,” he chuckles.

The former paper man shares a special word of appreciation for Finnair’s customer service. During his active travelling years, he was on a first-name basis with Finnair employees.

“Pipsa and Leena handled all sorts of mishaps and flight changes for me,” he says. “The two were wonderful. Customer service was in their blood. And I’m sure it wasn’t just with me – they were that way with everyone.”

TECH BOOM DEFIES BORDERS Since the early 2000s, a full-on 10 digital revolution has swept the world. The Finnish economy, too, has shifted its primary focus from pulp and paper to high technology, electronics and telecommunications.

First, Finland had Nokia, then Angry

Like most modern business travellers, Vikkula considers flying a normal part of life – no longer a luxurious indulgence.

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Birds, and now the tech start-up conference Slush, which embodies the international mindset of the modern world.

These days, people and ideas fly swiftly across borders.

Marianne Vikkula, CEO of Slush, says Finnair’s existence has been crucial to the success of the tech conference.

“It’s critically important for Slush that there are direct flight connections to Helsinki. The easier it is to come here, the more people will attend,” she says.

Slush is the largest start-up and tech event in Northern Europe. The mega-conference takes place in Helsinki every November, and has grown exponentially ever since its founding in 2008. Last year Slush boasted 17,500 visitors and 2,300 start-ups. Attendees came from 120 different countries.

In the future she doesn’t see Slush growing much bigger in numbers, but the percentage of international participants is slated to increase.

Last November Slush partnered with Finnair to organise a direct flight from San Francisco to Helsinki.

“The feedback was excellent. A direct flight makes all the difference,” Vikkula says.

Vikkula flies fairly often: besides flying regularly within Europe, she is frequently seen onboard Finnair’s direct Asian flights now that Slush has expanded to Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore.

Like most modern business travellers, Vikkula considers flying a normal part of life – no longer a luxurious indulgence.

Her main priority is that everything goes smoothly at the airport and during the journey. She says that ideally flying should be convenient, easy and reliable.

“I’m the person who comes to the airport at the last minute. I always try to minimise my travel time and score a window seat,” she says of her travel habits.

Her sentiments are largely representative of today’s young business travellers and entrepreneurs – the less time you spend in transit, the more you can devote to creating innovations that benefit people the world over. ●

HISTORY

TEXT BY WIF STENGER

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PHOTOS BY FINNAIR, FINAVIA, KAI MELLÉN / FINNISH AVIATION MUSEUM

An airport plot

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n early 1918, newly-independent Finland gained its first airport, the Utti military airfield in Kouvola, now the nation’s oldest airport.

Flying boat traffic soon became common, but the first civilian airport wasn’t built on land until 1935 in Turku’s Artukainen district. A year later, Helsinki’s Malmi Airport opened some ten kilometres from the city centre.

Planning work for the airport had already begun in 1932 with several sites under consideration. The final choice was between Tuomarinkylä in north Helsinki and Tattarisuo (“Buckwheat Bog”) in the Malmi area.

In 1933 American aviator Charles Lindbergh was invited to Helsinki by Finnair’s predecessor, Aero, to help make the final decision. He recommended the Tuomarinkylä site – a suggestion that was ignored by the city fathers, who plumped for Malmi. By the 1940s, though, it was clear that “Buckwheat Bog” wasn’t sturdy or big enough for the increasing traffic and heavier aircraft.

“A new site was found some 20 kilometres from the city centre, near the village of Seutula, now part of Vantaa. The area was not affected by sea fog and had gravelly soil, able to bear heavy loads,” explains Annika Kåla, Communications Manager of Finavia Corporation (the former Civil Aviation Authority), which owns 21 Finnish airports.

Work on the new airport started in the spring of 1950 with a big rush to finish for the 1952 Summer Olympics in the city. The airport opened in July and

operated temporarily during the Games before re-opening in the autumn.

Regular full-time jet flights began in 1959, with just a modest shed for passengers. The first terminal finally opened a decade later. By the late 1990s, the airport boasted a shopping arcade, hotel and congress centre – and the first of many best-in-the-world awards.

“Helsinki is now the leading longhaul airport in Northern Europe and a popular transfer point between Europe and Asia,” says Kåla. “It accounts for 90 per cent of Finland’s international air traffic.” In the past three decades, passenger volume has more than tripled, from five to 17 million a year.

The airport offers a great first impression for visitors arriving in Finland, says Markku Remes, Finnair’s long-time manager of VIP & lounge services, who is now retired.

“Throughout the terminals, glimpses of Finnish design, and art and technology are present. That includes the Premium Lounge with its sauna and even the terminal’s innovative wood-blend flooring from 1968, which is still in excellent shape almost half a century later,” says Remes.

The airport is moving ahead into the next half-century with a massive expansion project that will allow it to welcome 20 million passengers annually by 2020.

The “one roof” project will place all services in one building, keeping transfer times quick with no need to change terminals.

There will be a bigger role for innovative digital solutions – and space on the tarmac for twice as many wide-bodied planes. ●

Under the Northern Skies | Encounters

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TEXT BY MIRVA LEMPIĂ„INEN

PHOTOS BY TEEMU KUUSIMURTO

Ten things that fly in the sky Every Helsinki-New York flight carries not only passengers, crew and luggage, but also no fewer than 20,000 everyday items essential for flight comfort.

FLEECE BLANKETS Finnair introduced its popular Marimekko blanket in 2013.

Passengers praise its warmth, size and of course style. The print is the iconic Marimekko Kivet (Stones) print, and the blanket was designed solely for Finnair use. Each New York flight is stocked with 250 of these freshly laundered snuggly blankets.

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HOT TOWELS Hot towels are offered to passengers before meals. In Business class these are terry cloth towels, and in Economy Class they are cloth paper towels.

Flight attendants heat them with hot water. On the New York flight, Finnair serves 250 hot towels in Economy Class and 100 in Business Class.

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BLUEBERRY JUICE Finnair started serving blueberry juice on its short-haul flights in 2014. Soon, passengers asked for the beverage on long-haul flights, too. Now passengers consume 700,000 litres per year. The New York flight carries 48 litres. Blueberries are often referred to as a superfood.

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MEDIBOX Finnair’s first aid kit is called the Medibox, though it is a canvas purse. Among other things, the Medibox includes bandages, earplugs, nose spray, a thermometer and anti-diarrhea medication. Each flight has two first aid kits and a total of 48 bandages. Paper cuts are the most common inflight injury.

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QUICK BITES FAZER CHOCOLATE No New York flight takes off without 150 to 200 individually wrapped Fazer chocolates onboard, served mainly in Business Class. Economy Class passengers may get Fazer chocolates as dessert. Passengers also buy about 100,000 Fazer chocolate bars from Finnair’s inflight taxfree shopping catalogue each year.

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NEWSPAPERS While Finnair plans to fully digitalise all reading material offered onboard by 2018, for now passengers can still dig into physical newspapers and magazines. These include the New York Times, Financial Times and Helsingin Sanomat. Altogether there are 321 publications representing 16 brands on the Helsinki to New York roundtrip flight.

MENU CARDS Finnair’s Business Class multi-language wine list is the same on all flights and changes every six months. The food menu changes quarterly and its content and language varies based on the aircraft’s route. Printed in Finland, the menu cards introduce the Finnair Signature Chefs and their corresponding meals.

Finnair plans to digitise the menu cards by 2018.

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18 STAIN REMOVER WIPES These wipes are small, but crucial to load onto the flight.

They are needed often – for instance, when wine or food spills onto a passenger’s shirt.

The wipes have been a Finnair staple for decades and are made in Finland. There are always 32 wipes onboard.

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DRY ICE Have you ever wondered how food and drinks stay cold on a flight? The answer is dry ice, which is made of carbon dioxide and frozen down to -79 degrees Celsius. The crew handles dry ice with gloves on. The New York flight carries 39 packages of dry ice, weighing 1 kilogram each.

NAPKINS Finnair’s signature napkins feature Marimekko’s Kivet (Stones) design.

The napkins come in three different sizes and in various shades of green and grey. The Helsinki-New York roundtrip is flown with 2,383 napkins onboard. Their weight totals 7 kilograms and the napkins are used during food and drink service. ●

Under the Northern Skies | Encounters

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SPECIAL FREIGHT

TEXT BY TIM BIRD

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PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

Crustaceans go east Finnair Cargo doesn’t only carry containers of inanimate freight; it’s also equipped to take care of some special passengers.

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ver the years Finnair has taken on the role of an airborne arc, safely carrying a menagerie that includes a variety of animals, including horses for equestrian shows and snow leopards from one zoo to another. Perhaps one of the more surprising livestock passengers is the king crab from Norway.

These enormous crustaceans have a leg span that can measure well over one metre and their meat is held in high regard, especially in South Korea. Seoul, the capital of that country, is the usual destination. The pristine waters of northern Norway are the preferred origin for discerning Korean customers, and Helsinki is an obvious freight hub for their transport, in terms of geography, logistics and handling facilities.

Exporters are trying to extend the market. Crabs have been also been sent to other destinations, such as Beijing, Tokyo, New York and Hong Kong to test the reaction.

CLAWS ABOARD The Helsinki hub is in a naturally cool climate, particularly suited to the peak winter season for king crabs. According to Christer Forsman, Finnair Cargo’s Sales Manager for the Nordics, the facility is

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also temperature-controlled and if needed temperature sensitive cargo can be transported from the terminal to the aircraft using specially designed dollies.

Pharmaceuticals are handled in a separate area but Finnair’s experience and terminal facilities are advantages when handling both categories of cargo. Controlled facilities maintaining the environment at an appropriate temperature, quick transfer at the transit point and smooth delivery at final destination are crucial factors in Finnair Cargo’s handling.

A significant part of total cargo load on Finnair flights to Seoul consists of king crab exports from Norway. The crabs are transported by truck from northern Norway to Helsinki Airport, although they have also been flown by chartered flights to save time. They are packed in Styrofoam boxes with cold gel bags to keep the temperature low, between +0ºC and +5 ºC, which keeps the animals relaxed and stress free, in semi hibernation.

CREATURE COMFORT The crabs, which require gentle handling, can survive from 35 to 40 hours from tank to tank. Time is crucial, the main objective being to keep the total number of hours to a minimum. Another important issue is communication during transit,

About half of total cargo load on Finnair flights to Seoul consists of king crab exports from Norway. and the truck driver and Finnair Cargo are in close contact, ensuring the smoothest possible transfer to Helsinki.

The demand for fresh Arctic food, also including Norwegian salmon in the sushi restaurants of Japan, is growing.

From an ecological point of view, fishing for king crab serves a useful function, too. The highly invasive species was introduced from the Russian Kamchatka waters some decades ago. Fishing for king crab remains limited by quotas, but biologists are concerned by the spread of the creature around the Norwegian coast at the expense of other species.

“And it tastes good, of course,” says Forsman. “I highly recommend it!” ●

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SKY FOOD

TEXT BY SILJA KUDEL

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PHOTOS BY FINNAIR, ISTOCK

Flavours that fly As passenger palates change, so must inflight meals. Finnair collaborates with star chefs to offer a new-wave gourmet experience – but how do they work their magic when our sense of taste is about as sharp as a sledgehammer at 30,000 feet?

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eep-fried pork rib with mustard sauce by Bocuse d’Or finalist Eero Vottonen, hotsmoked arctic char with cold sour cream sauce by TV chef Kari Aihinen, pike-perch terrine with smoky chanterelles by culinary celebrity Sasu Laukkonen – a Michelin all-star menu, surely?

Yes and no: all three dishes are from Finnair’s Business Class Signature Menus designed by Finland’s top culinary talent.

Finnair has always pampered passengers with indulgences beyond the standard bag of salted peanuts. Back in the 1960s, it was with champagne and caviar, but today’s millennials appreciate a dif-

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ferent kind of luxury. “Simple, fresh and seasonal” is now bang on-trend, and Finnair’s Nordic cuisine ticks all the boxes for culinary finesse – at least according to lifestyle magazine Monocle, which chose Sasu Laukkonen’s Finnair menu as the best-inflight meal experience of 2016.

“We truly believe in Nordic cuisine and we’ll continue working with Finland’s top chefs to bring our passengers superb dishes made from seasonal Finnish ingredients,” says Maarit Keränen, Head of Finnair’s Service Concept.

“Luckily we never have trouble finding great chefs from around the world to work with us!”

LET THE SALMON SHINE

DIAL UP THE VOLUME CREATING AN APPETISING inflight menu can be almost as challenging as earning a Michelin star due to the numbing combination of high altitude, low air pressure, and dry atmosphere. Up in the sky, we lose up to 30 per cent of our ability to perceive the taste and texture of food.

“Many dishes that taste great on the ground taste dull and bland up in the sky.

The obvious solution is to add extra salt, but you can also dial up the intensity with smokiness, umami and by playing around with minerals. For instance beef, spinach and nutmeg make a perfect combination of earthy flavours,” says Sasu Laukkonen.

As a rule, sous-vide dishes (cooked in a water bath in a vacuum-sealed bag) are “good flyers,” particularly slow-braised tender meats such as osso bucco, which retains its moisture, flavour and texture when reheated.

“But you can also do great things with veggies. My personal favourite is caramelised, starchy potato soup containing baked potato peel and hazelnut. Overall, fattier foods are better at sucking up flavour, ideally served at hand-warm temperature for the best mouthfeel,” explains the Michelin-starred chef.

“THE GREATEST CHALLENGE is getting the moisture right,” says Pekka Terävä, creator of two Signature Menus for Finnair. “I usually go with overcooked stews. Fish such as pike tends to dry out easily, so salmon works better because of its oiliness.”

Terävä consciously avoids adding too much seasoning. “Nordic cuisine is all about purity of taste. The ingredients must be given a chance to shine – I don’t want to mask the original flavour,” says the Michelin-starred chef of Olo Restaurant.

Certain ingredients such as shrimp are poor flyers, as they become chewy when heated. “And it’s impossible to incorporate delicate lettuce or fresh herbs. Also visually, you can’t be as adventurous as in a restaurant because of the reheating process. Tray and dish sizes also have a big impact on the look of the meal,” says Terävä.

COMPLEX CHOREOGRAPHY BEFORE A NEW MENU is ready for rollout, it is translated into flight mode

by Juha Stenholm, Head Chef of Product Development. His challenging task is to strike a compromise between culinary creativity and practical limitations.

“We spend a lot of time discussing what’s possible and what’s not. In the flight kitchen we can’t prepare plates like in a Michelin-star restaurant, as we produce thousands of meals per day,” he says.

Among the factors that need to be considered are portion heights and weights, size of trolleys, limited storage space, and the complex timeline of cooking, cooling, packing, transporting and reheating each meal.

“Usually we need to reduce the number of components and modify certain cooking methods. In choosing the ingredients, our primarily challenge is ensuring that the hot meal component withstands re-heating,” says Stenholm. »

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CHOCOLATE VS. BLOODY MARY

RA, RA, RYE! IT’S OFFICIAL: rye bread is Finland’s national food. In autumn 2016, nearly 50,000 Finns voted in a public poll asking which traditional dish is the most iconically “Finnish.” The poll confirmed that Finnair has been on trend for 50 years: rye bread has been a well-loved staple on the inflight menu since the 1960s.

SIXTIES SPLENDOUR WHEN FINNAIR launched its first Douglas DC-8 transatlantic crossings in 1969, lunch in First Class was a sinfully lavish affair. Lashings of Beluga caviar were piled high in elegant Ultimate Thule bowls by Tapio Wirkkala, accompanied by rye toast, minced onion, sour cream, egg and lemon wedges – all washed down with generous refills of Dom Pérignon champagne and chilled Finlandia vodka.

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WHY DOES CHOCOLATE taste different at 30,000 feet? The answer lies between our ears, according to a study carried out by Cornell University. Tests reveal that airplane noise dulls our perception of sweetness. Curiously, the hum of jet engines was found to intensify one flavour above others: the umami flavour of tomatoes, which might explain the popularity of Bloody Marys among flyers.

SOUR GRAPES? ONE OF THE LUXURIES of flying is sipping a nice glass of wine, but many wines tend to lose their complexity up in the sky due to the dry air in the pressurised cabin, which produces the sensory equivalent of a blocked nose. Wines furthermore tend to taste more tart, acidic and tannic up in the sky. A fruity, less acidic wine works best at high altitudes, particularly a bottle-aged red with a mushroomy nose and finish.

Finnair’s award-winning selection of wines is selected by experts to complement inflight meals. Adding to a long list of accolades, Finnair won the Gold Medal for Best Business Class White at The Business Traveller Cellars in the Sky Awards 2016. ●

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY TIM BIRD

SNAPSHOT

Ready for take-off On average, over 30,000 passengers pass through Helsinki Airport every day.

Five travellers reveal what they appreciate most about Finnair’s hub.

FLY INN RESTAURANT & DELI AT 11:15 Anna Tynkkynen from Hel24 sinki has ordered a fish lunch at the Fly Inn Restaurant & Deli before taking a business trip flight to Tallinn, Estonia.

“I travel two or three times a month. I don’t mind if I have a little extra time at Helsinki Airport to eat or relax. It’s modern, clean and light. But my favourite thing about flying is in the darker Finnish winter months, when you get above the clouds and see the sun after enduring darkness.”

SOUVENIR SHOP, NON-SCHENGEN TERMINAL AT 12:00 Sandy Leong browses the 25 Moomin character souvenirs in an airport shop. She is on holiday en route to Moscow, Russia from her home in Macau, the special administrative region of China.

“The thing I like most about flying is that I have spare time to think. I can completely concentrate on my thoughts.

I flew in from Hong Kong this morning. This is a very calm airport, not too crowded. And I think I’d come back to Finland – perhaps for a summer holiday!”

FINNAIR LOUNGE, NON-SCHENGEN TERMINAL AT 13:00 Dennis Andreaci of Andreaci 27 Consulting is seated in the Finnair Lounge at the non-Schengen area of the terminal.

“If I am flying to the US from Asia I usually fly on Finnair via Helsinki. In fact, I often plan a stopover. It’s very efficient here, the whole set-up from check-in to the gate. I fly about 75 times a year on business, usually within Asia. On the flights, the food is good, the service is good and the planes are very clean.”

PREMIUM CHECK-IN DESK, TERMINAL 2 DEPARTURES AT 12:45 Tommi Wulff, People and Cul26 ture Manager is checking in at the priority desk for his Finnair flight to New York, from where he will connect to Cincinnati, Ohio.

“I travel a lot for work, frequently to China and Europe, but lately to the States. Finnair operates from pretty much the best airport in the world. It’s fairly easy to navigate, everything works.

Finnair service is good; if you’re Finnish, there is something very homely about stepping onto a Finnair flight.”

GATE 28, SCHENGEN TERMINAL AT 13:30 Steven Braun, a Belgian res28 taurateur, is boarding a flight to Rovaniemi in Lapland, having flown to Helsinki from Brussels with his wife and daughter.

“We are looking forward to the classic Lapland holiday for four nights – skiing, reindeer safaris and the Northern Lights. We’ve always wanted to go there; it’s a place you must visit once in a lifetime. We’ve had an hour between flights at Helsinki Airport, which is more compact than Brussels, for sure.”●

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TEXT BY ANU PIIPPO

PHOTO BY TEEMU KUUSIMURTO

Land of left items Have you ever lost something in the airplane cabin or on the ground at the airport? You’re not alone – 50 to 100 items find their way to Helsinki Airport’s lost and found office each day.

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ost of the items people leave behind are the usual suspects: mobile phones, tablets, keys and wallets.

The items vary according to the time of year – during winter months, passengers tend to lose beanies and mittens, but when spring arrives, the number of sunglasses rises rapidly.

WATCH Another example of an item that can often be found on the trays at security control. This classic men’s timepiece awaits its owner for three months by law. After that, the item is either donated to charity or sold at auction.

SUNGLASSES This pair of shades was left in an airplane and never claimed.

Sunglasses and eyeglasses are among the most common lost items at Helsinki Airport; there can be hundreds of them in the lost and found office at the same time.

PASSPORT Passports and identity cards, which belong to Finnish citizens, are sent to the police if they are unclaimed by the owner. This Swedish passport was found in the cabin of a flight from Joensuu in eastern Finland to Helsinki. The owner has been informed about its status. Since the cost of sending a passport to another country is often high, some people prefer to get a new passport, particularly if the expiration date is close.

BELT This leather belt manufactured by a well-known brand was removed at security control where passengers are asked to remove certain items and place them onto the conveyor belt. This particular belt was never put back on, which can happen when there’s a lot of traffic in the security lane or when a passenger is in a hurry.

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PAPERBACK BOOK What is the most common lost item at Helsinki Airport? A paperback book. Passengers often place books in the seat pocket and they just slip down and stay there. This slightly worn book, written by Estonian author Imbi Paju, was found in the cabin after a flight from Zürich to Helsinki.

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MOBILE PHONE Phones are easy to lose. Most unclaimed mobiles are older models, but sometimes, as in this case, even a brand new one faces a similar destiny. That usually happens if the owner has been on a connecting flight and isn’t aware of the lost and found service that operates also online (found.fi).

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JACKET Different types of coats and hats are surprisingly often left behind. This black men’s winter jacket, size L, has a broken zip, which may be the reason the owner has not asked for it.

Or, perhaps he was travelling to a warm destination with an intention to stay?

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MASK This mask, possibly from Africa, has been in the lost and found office for a long time. In fact, there are two of them, one slightly darker than the other. The staff at the office have become so fond of these wooden carvings that they now hang on the office wall to brighten up their day and remind them of journeys that are just around the corner. ●

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LOST AND FOUND

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Kindred spirits ON OCCASION it is possible to feel a special connection with someone we have never met or form a business relationship that transcends the boardroom. The bond between kindred spirits is not about age, time or social status, rather it is about shared experiences, beliefs or attitudes.

In this section we immerse ourselves in those special connections that play a major role in Finnair’s story. We visit Helsinki Airport to witness the masterful collaboration between Finnair and airport staff, talk with Finnish Nobel Prize winner, Bengt Holmström, about journeys towards discovery and meet a photographer who creates graceful flying machines for his arresting photography.

This section covers stories 37–59.

Photo by Konsta Punkka

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Behind the scenes at Helsinki Airport

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Passing through Helsinki Airport to your Finnair flight is a miracle of coordination, involving a complex and efficient network of procedures and services that cut the stress and increase the joy of travel.

Finnair and oneworld partner passengers check in at Terminal 2. The Ring Rail Line linking the city and the airport opened in 2015.

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Bluetooth sensors assess probable security queuing time, displayed near e-gates.

TEXT BY TIM BIRD

GRAPHICS BY JUKKA FORDELL

There are three baggage handling stages: check-in & bag drop (airline, handling agent), security check (Finavia) and loading (handling agent).

Passengers should remove tracking code tags from previous flights – these can confuse the system.

Developments under way will increase passenger boarding bridges for widebodied aircraft for long-haul flights from eight to 16 and increase terminal space by 45% and baggage handling capacity by 50%.

Books and rye bread are popular with shoppers. Moomin toys are popular with Asian customers.

Special baggage (skis, musical instruments, etc.) are separated from other bags and placed on white trays.

Passengers should add ID and address information inside luggage, as well as outside.

PLANE & SIMPLE

Finnair flies to some 20 destinations in Asia. These flights depart from gates 32–60 in Terminal 2’s non-Schengen section, accessed via passport control.

» Under the Northern Skies | Kindred spirits

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Special cargo handled in high-tech terminal includes seafood, perishables, animals, pharmaceuticals and mail.

Finnair’s new freight terminal is equipped with temperature control, especially important for handling increasing quantities of pharmaceuticals.

The airport employs over 20,000 people, involving 1,500 companies and organisations from airline, ground handling and catering staff to customs and immigration.

Refuelling: Finnair Airbus A350 XWB aircraft have a maximum fuel capacity of 141,000 litres. The aircraft is 25% more fuel efficient than its predecessors.

The average turnaround for planes at Helsinki is 50 minutes, during which 250 processes are carried out, from cleaning to loading meals and drinks.

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The airport has a separate Business Flight Terminal and VIP President Lounge for VIP receptions and services.

HCC connects Finnair operations such as aircraft and cargo handling and ramp loading procedures.

OCC is the traffic nerve centre, distributing real-time information about flight status, changes in aircraft type, delays caused by weather conditions at destinations.

* Departing and arriving Finnair flights

Special vehicles with equipment that contain glycol are used to remove ice and to prevent it from forming on aircraft wings. A spiked icebreaker clears ice from the apron surface.

Arrivals and departures are most frequent between 2 and 3 pm and 10 pm to midnight.

Minimum transit connection time: 35 minutes.

Even heavy snow can be cleared from runways and aprons in 11 minutes using 25-metre Vammas sweeper and blower vehicles. The airport is open 24/7, 365 days a year. â—?

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TEXT BY DAVID J. CORD

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PHOTOS BY FINAVIA

Let it snow!

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when the white stuff falls, here’s your chance to find out. The famous Finnish snow-how, or ability to handle snow, is particularly evident at airports. »

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FEATURE

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T

he first few snowflakes drift lazily down just as we pull up to the parking area. I hop out of the truck and approach the line of huge yellow snow clearing machines, but my companions look up into the cloudy sky.

“You see, this is why we always need to be ready,” says Finavia’s Heini Noronen-Juhola, Vice President of Helsinki Airport. “This snowfall was not forecast, but unexpected snow is becoming more common with climate change.”

The machines aren’t snow ploughs.

These contraptions are as many generations removed from a snow plough as a Ferrari is from a bicycle. They are 18 metres long and formed out of three major components, not all of which I could figure out. Luckily Noronen-Juhola steps in to help me out.

“The front is the plough,” she explains.

“In the middle is the brush. Can you see how it swivels? Then in the back is the blower. The operator can choose which direction he wants to blow the snow.”

The snow starts to fall heavier as I look inside the cab. The instrument panel is filled with buttons and screens.

“These Vammas machines are topof-the-line and were actually developed here at the Helsinki Airport,” Noronen-Juhola continues behind me. “They are used all over the world at airports with a snowy climate.”

Another truck pulling a strange trailer arrives. I discover the driver is the supervisor of a particular team of “snow men,” as the snow clearing specialists are called at the airport. His trailer measures the slipperiness of the runway by lowering a wheel to the surface. Sensors detect the friction level and send the information up to the cab, so they know the exact status of the runway.

“They are getting ready to go to work,” Noronen-Juhola calls. “We need to get out of the way because the snow machines have priority. Airplanes have top precedence at the airport. Fire trucks are number two. Snow machines are number three.”

We climb back into the truck and Marko Haapanen, the airport’s head of Rescue Services, drives to a corner of the parking area so we are out of the way. The operators come out of a nearby building,

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climb in the machines and drive away. I check my watch. The snow shower began about two minutes ago and the Helsinki Airport snow men are already at work.

FINNISH SNOW-HOW “We use 24 different snow clearing patterns. These are pre-planned routes which everyone knows,” says Noronen-Juhola.

The machines immediately line up in a staggered formation. It is as tightly controlled and choreographed as a ballet, which is an apt description because the big machines are unexpectedly graceful.

Their manoeuvres look perfect and it is obvious they have done this hundreds or thousands of times.

As we watch the snow being cleared we pass a plane being sprayed down by the de-icing crew on cherry-pickers.

Noronen-Juhola explains the airport has state-of-the-art systems to recapture the de-icing spray so it doesn’t end up contaminating the soil or ground water.

We follow along behind the machines on the black asphalt which has been almost completely cleared of snow. Only a tiny smear of white here and there survives to prove that there had once been snow on the ground.

At the Helsinki Airport the snow men have to deal with snow and ice about five months each year. It is a major challenge, but the last time the airport closed due to snow was in 2003, and that stoppage was only for 30 minutes.

Every winter the airport plays host to curious people from other airports around the world. When a blizzard hits central Europe shutting down airports and the UK is buried in a freak snowstorm, authorities book trips to Helsinki to see how the Finns manage it. »

The machines immediately line up in a staggered formation. It is as tightly controlled and choreographed as a ballet.

ON THE GROUND The snow machines drive down the runway in an arrow formation.

The most experienced drivers are in the front and rear while the newer operators are in the middle.

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IN THE AIR Finnish snow-how is a mindset that applies to everyone.

Flying in snow is completely normal to pilots.

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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

“We do this every day, but snow really electrifies us and spurs us to do our best.”

The key to this snow-how is preparation.

When the residents of Helsinki are still eating ice cream in the hot summer the snow men are busy practicing, training and getting their 250 pieces of equipment ready. They have 60 full-time members and another 65 who join in the winter.

It is an experienced group; many of the winter team members come back year after year.

“Everyone must know their role,” Noronen-Juhola explains. “They go over their tactics and train together with the air traffic controllers. There has to be close cooperation for things to go smoothly.”

At the ramp close to the terminal smaller machines pile up snow and move it to designated areas where it will (eventually) melt. The big snow machines are on the apron and taxiways, at work in their intricate, fast-moving patterns. We hear over the radio that they will soon clear a runway so Haapanen of Rescue Services finds us an out-of-the-way spot to watch.

The other two runways remain open.

The snow machines drive down the runway in an arrow formation. The most experienced drivers are in the front and rear while the newer operators are in the middle. Buzzing along behind the convoy is the truck I had seen earlier with the skidometer, making sure the surface isn’t slippery. If they aren’t satisfied they go over the runway again. Chemicals are never used to melt snow, but they are sometimes used to maintain conditions on the runway.

“Did you notice that their ploughs are up now?” Noronen-Juhola asks. “The asphalt is warm and the snow has already started to melt. The best tool now is the brush, so they are using that to clear away the slush. I have to admit that I’m quite proud of how good a job our snow men do.”

SNOWY STATE OF MIND Back indoors I meet Timo Rissanen. He is Finnair’s head of Ground Experience at Helsinki, which means he takes care of customers at the airport. He says to understand Finnish snow-how you need to go back in time.

“Finns grow up with snow,” he says.

“Kids learn the different types of snow and how to deal with each at an early

age – wet and heavy snow is good for building a snowman, powder-like snow is great for playing and rolling around in. Finnish children know that snow is nothing to be afraid of but it needs to be handled appropriately. It is a simple mindset that applies to everyone. Look how our pilots are used to flying in snow.

It is completely normal to them.”

Preparation and planning are key to Finnair taking care of customers, just like how Finavia maintains runways. They are constantly checking weather conditions and arranging for the future. The ground crew is precise and careful, making sure to give the pilot time to de-ice.

If an incoming plane is delayed they look at connecting flights. Can this departing flight wait an extra ten minutes so passengers will make it? If not, can we get them on the next flight or should we book hotel rooms?

“It’s not just us, either,” Rissanen continues. “It’s all our partners, like catering or refuelling crews. Everyone prepares, shares information and works together. Finavia even has a staff member in the Finnair control centre during peak hours. We do this every day, mind you, but snow really electrifies us and spurs us to do our best.”

BLIZZARD: CONDITIONS NORMAL Rissanen recalls many years ago when he was manning a gate during a blizzard. A German gentleman asked how long the delay would be, so he checked with the flight crew.

“It looks like we will be on time,” Rissanen said.

The customer looked out the window.

The only thing visible was the plane and swirling snow.

“Are you sure?” he asked dubiously.

“Yes, the crews say everything is normal,” Rissanen said.

Sure enough, the Finnair ground and flight crews were careful to give the pilot a cushion of time, and the plane backed out of the gate five minutes early. Even after de-icing the plane only took off slightly behind schedule, but the passenger still had another pleasant surprise in store for him.

“I always wondered what that customer thought when they actually arrived at their destination early!” Rissanen laughs. ●

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STAFF

TEXT BY CARINA CHELA

PHOTOS BY INTERVIEWEES

The plane truth For some it’s about the marshmallow clouds, for others it’s the thrill of the take-off. In Finnair’s multicultural workforce, everyone has different reasons that make their work special.

SARA MOSEBAR is an A350 Fleet Engineer and Retrofit Manager from the US, based in Finland. “Ever since I was a little girl, watching airplanes fly across the Texan sky, I couldn’t help but wonder how such large objects could stay up in the air; that’s why I studied Aerospace Engineering.”

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ANNA TÖRNBLOM is a flight attendant living in Porvoo, Finland. She works both short and long-haul flights. “Flying is full of adventures, new countries and people. I learn something new every day. It really opens up a new world.”

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CHUQIAO YU is a Business Analyst who develops channels for customers to buy Finnair flights. She lives in Espoo, Finland.

“I love blue skies, clouds and sunshine.

Clouds are like huge marshmallows, soft and with different shapes. Because of my work, I fly frequently to China – those are usually night flights.”

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DORIS CHEN is Finnair’s Cargo Sales Manager based in Shanghai, China. “Flying is a way to say hello to the world. I have learned how different people work and live, and that there are different ways of working, which has made me a more tolerant person.”

YA NAN GUO is an Airport Service Manager based in Shanghai, China. “Before I joined Finnair, I had never taken a flight in my life.

Civil aviation has always been a mystery to me, which made it more attractive.

After I started this job I realised how much flying changes people’s lives. The world becomes smaller and people are better connected.”

RIKKE CHRISTENSEN, Vice President Traffic Planning, is from Denmark and based in Finland. Whenever on a plane, she is interested in the specific aircraft type and in meeting the crew, especially if it’s Finnair personnel. “I think that’s how it is when you work in this industry.”

Christensen travels every week. “I normally spend my time onboard working and reflecting.”

STAN KWONG, Hong Kongbased Area Sales Manager, develop’s effective sales strategies and cooperation with travel trade partners. “Since I spend most of my time working with hospitality and tourism, the one thing that I care most about is the quality of the services on board.”

Kwong’s work takes him to South China, Taiwan, Shanghai and Finland.

KATJA PODDUIKIN is a Helsinki-based Inflight Supervisor who has always been fascinated by speaking different languages and getting to know other cultures. “What I love is the way I am able to make the customer feel on board the aircraft. My personal goal for each flight is to make the customer feel like a very welcomed guest.”

WIKTOR MATUSZEWSKI is a Client Manager who lives in Warsaw, Poland. “The difference between me and my family or friends is that I probably get on board like I would be hopping on a bus. Personally, I really like the take-off. I love acceleration and when the wheels lose contact with the ground I think off we go!” ●

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INTERVIEW

AS TOLD TO SIMON FRY

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PHOTOS BY HEIKKI TOLVANEN

Propelled by aviation They are the unseen, calm voices in control of your flight – but what’s it like to be a pilot?

Finnair’s Heikki Tolvanen talks about his career and what inspired him to fly. »

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While the nature of a great flight has changed for Heikki Tolvanen over the years, he still values all the different aspects of flying.

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“

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’ll have to blame my father for my enthusiasm for aviation. He began flying gliders in the 1950s and flew for 50 years before hanging up his overalls at the age of 78.

I was born in 1965 in Helsinki – and have always lived there – and my father told me I was about two years old when I first flew, in a glider’s back seat in my mother’s lap. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t officially allowed then, but obviously the times were different. My summers as a youth were spent at small southern Finland airports where flying gliders was a world of its own.

Today my life’s three foundations are family, friends and flying. My best feeling from flying comes when I’m working with a great crew in both the cockpit and the cabin.

I have been lucky enough to combine all three professionally and have the fondest memories of the great group of dedicated pilots and cabin crew who made flying the Boeing 757 into a small family. We had the Obama slogan ‘Yes, we can!’ all over our foreheads. Best ten years of my career.

People in my profession are always willing to share their experience, so when flying to new places I prepare by talking to pilots who have flown there before for any tips they can give.

BECKONING BEACONS The world of aviation has seen major changes since I started flying professionally in March 1988.

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Radio beacons used to form one of the main navigational aids along an airplane’s route. These metal structures of differing sizes marked a fixed location allowing direction-finding equipment to find relative bearings. Today, however, they are becoming extinct as navigation is increasingly becoming GPS-based.

My favourite beacon was the KOR (Korso) non-directional beacon (transmitted on 322 kHz), which used to be the outer marker approach beacon for Helsinki runway 22L. I’ve probably flown over that beacon thousands of times as that runway has been my main landing runway. It’s like a ‘welcome-home’ for me. Sadly, KOR no longer exists.

NAVIGATING SKY ROADS While the passengers see an infinite world out of their windows, with a borderless view extending to the horizon, the pilots in the cockpit see a clearly marked route.

In his recent British Sunday Times bestseller book Skyfaring – A journey with a pilot, Mark Hoenacker, a pilot himself, refers to differently-size divisions of airspaces as ‘Countries of the Sky.’ Almost all of the globe is divided into these divisions and they are made up of numerous airways, or sort of roads in the sky, which we follow. Our flight routing to our destination and back is made by an automated computer system for shortand medium-length flights and by our dispatchers and computer system for longhaul flights. So, in a way we follow road maps.

Along with sky regions, waypoints – imaginary points in the air – are navigational fixes along an airplane’s route.

My favourite waypoint happens to be ALAMI, which is one of the Baltic Sea entry points to Finnish airspace and Tampere FIR, when coming from Europe.

On countless occasions my flights have been cleared by ATC (air traffic control) direct to ALAMI from positions over north Germany or even the Netherlands.

Getting that small but meaningful short cut always meant getting home a few tens of seconds quicker.

Due to my long-haul career, I very seldom fly over mainland Europe. When I do, my favourite airspace is the Maastricht UAC (Upper Area Control Centre, covering Belgium, north-west Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands). The air traffic controllers’ high level of professionalism and their utmost willingness to help and serve pilots has always appealed to me and I appreciate their effort.

There are also one or two Finns working at Maastricht UAC and it’s always a pleasure to exchange a few quick words over Europe in your own language.

TAKING THE CONTROLS As pilots, we are normally qualified to fly only one type of aircraft at a time, so at present I fly the Airbus A350s and A330s, as they are considered one type by the aviation authorities.

My favourite aircraft, though, is the Boeing 757, which Finnair retired from its fleet in 2013. I’m an ‘old school’ pilot and the 757 is an ‘old school’ airliner. It has enough automation to ease everyday flying, yet the pilot still feels in control.

Its old construction meant it was mainly a control cable-operated airliner, giving the pilot a more direct feeling of what’s happening with the metal bird.

Finnair had seven Boeing 757s in which I flew leisure passengers to countless airports ranging from Brazil in the western hemisphere to Vietnam in the eastern hemisphere.

AN AIR LOVE AFFAIR While the nature of a great flight has changed a lot for me, I still value different aspects of flight; the feeling of acceleration on the runway and lifting the metal bird to the sky, flying around the fluffy cumulonimbus clouds on a beautiful summer day and gradually catching and passing another airliner just above or under your airplane during cruise flight due to more favourable winds or just piloting a speedier aircraft.

I love all the different, amazing sights in the sky and on the ground: sunrises and sunsets, aurora borealis during winter darkness, the beauty and diversity of Mother Earth from 40,000 feet.” ●

“The world of aviation has seen major changes since I started flying professionally in March 1988.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY

TEXT BY VILLE PALONEN

PHOTOS BY JANNE LEHTINEN

Learning to fly Finnish photographer Janne Lehtinen spent most of his childhood in an airfield surrounded by planes. In his photography series Sacred Bird, Lehtinen brings dreams of defying gravity into his art.

50 ZEPPELIN “Finland (Loviisa). A short distance can sometimes appear long. The location was situated only a few hundred metres from my home, but the road seems endless when you’re pulling a zeppelin behind you along a railway track. There was nothing but peace and tranquility in this destination.

Only one thing was worrisome: would the ice be strong enough?” » Under the Northern Skies | Kindred spirits

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special to me, because it brings together three important elements: a rugged landscape, a character inside it and a personal story behind the pictures.”

PHOTOGRAPHER INSIDE OUT

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emains of the twisted steel bridge resemble a springboard for divers. But a lone figure at the tip of the bridge is not going to dive. He is going to fly – or at least try.

The man dressed in green trousers and a red jacket is Janne Lehtinen; the steel bridge is just one of the captivating landscapes in his photography series titled Sacred Bird.

REACHING THE SKY

“Sacred Bird is about the relationship between human and nature.”

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“Sacred Bird is about dreams and desires, but it’s also a tribute to my father. He is a glider pilot, so I spent most of my childhood in an airfield surrounded by various kinds of flying machines,” says Lehtinen.

Even though the story behind the photographs is autobiographical, Lehtinen does not see them as self-portraits.

“Rather, I play the role of a clumsy, but optimistic pilot who tries endlessly to reach the sky. But a physical presence – as an experience and proof of involvement – is almost as important as the final photograph,” he notes.

Lehtinen took the first pictures for the series during the second year of his studies at an art university. “Sacred Bird is my best-known photographic work. It’s very

Self-built peculiar flying machines are a key element of the photographs. Finding the right landscape is a significant part of the work, too. Many of the images are from Karhula, his childhood hometown, but looking for harsh and deserted places has taken Lehtinen all the way to the windy shores of Iceland and northern Norway.

“Sacred Bird is about the relationship between human and nature. I underline that by often placing the character against two emotionally and visually powerful elements: water and sky,” explains Lehtinen.

The process of making pictures – like balancing on a wrecked bridge – has strong elements of performance art, yet Lehtinen insists that Sacred Bird is photography. “The act is played only for the camera: It’s based on composition, exposure and other requirements of the photographic process.”

Lehtinen says that even though he has built some installations for exhibitions, he has never seriously tried any other medium. “I’m a photographer inside out.

I’m also passionate about movies, and plan to work with film in the near future.”

Recently Lehtinen has worked on a documentary project in Russia and the Baltics, taught photography to children and published a couple of books. His latest images for Sacred Bird were made some years ago, but he reckons there will be new material sooner or later.

“I probably will continue with this project as long as I work with photography. Slowly, but surely,” says Lehtinen. ●

51 CIRCLE “Norway (Tromsø). I had built a number of new flying machines for the Norway shoot. When I was packing, I realised I had miscalculated. The machines were too big to fit in the van I had hired. The wings snapped when I slammed shut the tailgate. In the end, I took along only the bare essentials: a bunch of rods, wire and duct tape.”

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52 UMBRELLAS II “Estonia (Hiiumaa). I almost missed the ferry as my fuel cap had frozen shut during the night. The island of Hiiumaa beckoned. The place looked (and felt) like an Arctic glacier. There was no car access to the beach, so we had to assemble our contraption in the car park. There was a monument on the beach dedicated to victims of the Estonia ferry disaster and a small ship’s bell at the centre of it.

As I stood swaying in the wind on the icy headland, someone rang the bell.”

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53 SAIL “Finland, The Åland Islands (Kökar). Only one-way tickets were available.

We bought one anyway. There would have been round-trip tickets for a normal car, but we were travelling with a gigantic, self-constructed white ball that barely fit in the trailer we were pulling. The blustery conditions were not in our favour: all we managed to capture on film were a few shreds of the contraption.”

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THINGS LEARNED

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TEXT BY CARINA CHELA

PHOTO BY ISTOCK

The zen of flying Travelling is rarely hassle-free and a long flight can wear you down, regardless of cabin class. Five savvy Finnair passengers share their long-haul wisdom.

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ome say it’s all about the journey, not the destination. However deep, this insight may not soothe the nerves especially if on a 12-hour flight. Ideally passengers should move about in their seats, but that’s not always possible. So, it may be worth celebrating the moment in between and tune into positive thinking to make the next inflight experience enjoyable.

is.” This simple realisation helped him enjoy flying from a deeper perspective.

“The experience of flying becomes more enjoyable when you realise that knowing other cultures is within reach of your hand,” he says. Nokela used to work for a weekly magazine that organised reader trips around the world, during which he would work on his articles. Now retired, he continues to write and travel for pleasure – happily unfazed by all those airborne hours.

MAKE THE BEST OF IT According to Kirsi Komi, 54 a lawyer and non-executive director based in Helsinki, adopting a laid-back attitude is a really good start. The most important thing she has learned is also the easiest: “It’s all about following the instructions of the cabin crew – sit back and relax. If you have to sit for several hours surrounded by strangers, why not try to make the most of it.” Komi speaks from experience, having accumulated enough Finnair Plus tier points to get her through Priority Security for the rest of her life.

A FASCINATING WORLD What dawned upon maga55 zine travel editor Eero Nokela after 55 hours of flying and two weeks into a round-the-world tour was “how fascinating the world is and at the same time how small this globe

SILENCE IS GOLDEN Physician and psychologist Gustaf Molander has spent many an hour flying to seminars around the world. For Molander, the cabin is like living in an apartment building without walls where everybody is exposed and able to see their co-habitants dining, wining, reading and sleeping. “What I’ve learned to appreciate most is what I call collective privacy. It’s the silent agreement between passengers to respect each other’s nonverbal need for personal space in a psychological sense,” he says.

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SOOTHE THE MIND For Harri Sundvik, a London-based executive chairman for an international leadership and high performance company, mindset is the key to smooth and relaxing travel-

ling. He has internalised how flying can play an important role in his wellbeing and even happiness. He counts five factors related to happy flying. “Flying triggers a positive emotion; after all, we’ll be meeting new people and seeing new places. It creates the space for engagement in our otherwise busy lives; a perfect opportunity to read a good book. At best, flights literally connect people. The meaning and purpose behind travelling helps me to endure its strains. And the trip is an accomplishment in itself that helps me to reach my goals, be they personal or business,” he says.

MASTERING THE SKILL Like any other skill, it takes some mental cultivation and experience before you master travelling with a positive mindset. “At first it’s not always fun waiting at airports and spending so many hours flying. But it’s a learning curve, something you need to practise,” explains Pia Huhtala, a project coordinator in a multinational company. She has learned to love both flying and airports. “When you travel, the time spent in airports and on board the aircraft takes a huge chunk of your life. So it’s better to just enjoy the ride!”

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After all, getting there, wherever it is, really is half the fun. ●

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PROFILE

TEXT BY KATJA PANTZAR

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PHOTOS BY AAPO HUHTA

Journeys of discovery Nobel Prize in Economics 2016 winner Bengt Holmström, a leading economist and celebrated MIT professor, has been based in the US for several decades. He maintains strong ties with his Nordic roots and his former hometown of Helsinki – both of which have shaped him in many ways. »

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nology) campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he speaks with affection for the Finnish capital.

“Helsinki is very much where I grew up,” says Holmström. “I visit Helsinki regularly, as my mother lives there. I love driving around to see places that are important to me, like Katajanokka where my grandmother had a flat when I was young.”

INTERNATIONAL REACH

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man wearing a trench coat stands on the wing of a Junkers seaplane in a grainy black and white photo dated 1923. The striking archive image marks the spot where one of Finland’s first airports will open a year later in 1924 on Helsinki’s Katajanokka island, the same year that newly minted airline Aero will launch its first flight.

The picture also heralds the start of several eras, including those of aviation and economics. For Aero is what Finnair was called until 1968, when it officially changed its name. As for the man standing wing-top, he is photographer ­Constantin Grünberg – the maternal grandfather of 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics co-winner Bengt Holmström.

Holmström, 68, has lived in the US for most of his adult life, yet the award-winning economist’s speech still carries a lovely Nordic lilt. On the phone from the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Tech-

Today Holmström is a professor of economics at MIT, one of the world’s leading private research universities, where he has been on the faculty since 1994.

When he moved to MIT at age 45, he was already well known for his work on incentives and the structure of organisations, which included pioneering research into executive pay.

Of the numerous awards and accolades he has received during his career, the Nobel is the most significant. Together with British-born professor Oliver Hart, Holmström shared the 8 million kronor ($924,000) prize money for “their contributions to contract theory.”

“I was very happy to win, but also surprised,” says Holmström. ”I knew from the chatter that I was in the game so to speak, but the news still took time to digest,” he says.

Holmström says the Nobel win has not really changed him, rather it has been very gratifying. The Nobel week in Stockholm was a truly wonderful experience, however, the amount of attention has meant quite a bit of extra work.

“I’m not very disciplined, but I think I’m honest.

In research that’s as important as curiosity and persistence.”

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“I’m still going through my backlog of emails and invitations. The Nobel Prize also opens up amazing opportunities to meet interesting and influential people.

Unfortunately, I have had to pass on many of them. I was invited to the White House by former president Barack Obama, but could not go because I was already on my way to Stockholm. He wrote a letter congratulating me, which was very nice. I also missed the opportunity to have lunch with Bill Gates to discuss the great work his foundation is doing,” says Holmström.

WHY CONTRACTS MATTER The Swedish Academy awarded Holmström and Hart the Nobel for their contributions to contract theory, which includes frameworks for analysing issues such as executive compensation, the use of deductibles in insurance and the privatisation of public sector services.

“Contract theory is really about studying incentives through formal and informal contracts. In all cases, incentives are the key,” says Holmström.

“How do we get someone – whether a CEO or an employee – to do what we want them to do?” he asks.

Incentives may take many forms, financial and non-financial. Sometimes directives and constraints are more effective instruments for guiding behaviour than incentive pay, explains Holmström.

“The Wells Fargo story is a good example of how a bonus culture can lead to unintended, disastrous consequences: the pressure to perform was so strong that employees began creating shell accounts to boost their bonuses,” he says, referencing the Wells Fargo scandal that broke in 2016. No incentive pay would have been a better incentive scheme in this case.

NOBLE NORDIC ROOTS As the world’s press rushed to interview Holmström following his win, few delved into his origins. The New York Times even wrote that Holmström “speaks Swedish well enough to answer questions in that language” at the Nobel ceremony in Stockholm. In fact, Holmström belongs to Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority – the language is his mother tongue.

By contrast, Finland’s main Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet ran an in-depth profile of Holmström.

The text was accompanied by a black and white photo of a smiling Holmström as a child taken by his photographer grandfather Constantin, whose own background is worth a novel: He came from a noble family with roots in France and Italy.

The family moved to Russia in the early 1900s, but had to flee to Finland when the revolution broke out.

EARLY YEARS After completing his undergraduate degree in mathematics and science at the University of Helsinki, Holmström went to work for Ahlström Oy for two years. In 1974 he went to Stanford University in California, where he became interested in studying incentives and got a PhD degree in 1978.

“I studied at Stanford for three years and we didn’t fly back home during that time,” says Holmström, referring to his wife Anneli and his son Sam in the

“we.” “We made only a handful of phone calls per year to Finland as it cost $5.21 in 1974 for the first 3 minutes, which equals about $50 today – back then you wrote up everything you wanted to say and said it quickly during the phone call. The best way to communicate was through voice tapes, which we still enjoy listening to.”

Years later when Holmström was on the board of Nokia from 1999 to 2012, he flew back and forth between the US and Finland every two months.

“Today we talk to Finland nearly every day,” he says.

Has his Nordic upbringing influenced him? “Being brought up in Finland has certainly had an effect on me,” he answers. “For example, Finland is one of the least corrupt countries; if you promise to do something, you do it. As well, I think it’s (the Nordic upbringing) good for discipline.”

“I’m not very disciplined,” he adds, with a laugh. “But I think I’m honest. In research that’s as important as curiosity and persistence,” he says.

RESEARCH AS AN ADVENTURE In his Nobel lecture, Holmström compared research to a trip and stressed the importance of being attentive to all the unexpected things and details along the way.

“Research is a journey you embark on with the hope that something unexpected will happen. You have to have a destination, but you also have to be attentive to serendipitous moments that move you away from the planned path,” he says.

The ability to look forward has also been the key to many successful endeavours, from those first seaplane flights in the 1920s that flew to neighbouring Tallinn and Stockholm, with view to a more global future.

And Constantin likely saw the potential in his young grandson when he photographed him as a child so many years ago. Perhaps the talented photographer even envisioned the future of flight, as he stood wing-top on that seaplane in the Helsinki harbour almost a century ago. ●

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Soulmates AMERICAN WRITER Richard Bach famously said, “A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks.” This rings true not just for romantic love, but also for deep bonds of other kinds. A soulmate is a person who understands us thoroughly, helps us thrive and encourages us to overcome our challenges.

This section is dedicated to soulmates in all the wonderful ways they can appear.

Finnair’s present and history are embedded in long-term relationships that have helped the airline flourish and find a unique place in the heart of Finnish culture.

We also take a glimpse into the future and look at the discoveries and connections that enable lasting change and sustainable growth.

This section covers stories 60-100.

Photo by Getty Images

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FEATURE

TEXT BY KATJA PANTZAR

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PHOTOS BY FINNAIR, ISTOCK, LEHTIKUVA

Flying the modern silk route The building blocks of Finnair’s business model lie in its strategy of offering the fastest route between Europe and Asia. Like many success stories, the foundations of this narrative go back in time – in this case to the airline’s first flight to Tokyo in 1983.

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Âť

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Pekka Vauramo, the President and CEO of Finnair since 2013.

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back into the black and it began the biggest recruitment drive in its history.

As Vauramo recently tweeted: “Despite turbulent times for our industry in the past decade, @Finnair’s comeback has been truly invigorating.”

LOCATION, LOCATION

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or the modern traveller who is as comfortable lunching in London, sleeping in a lean-to on Lapland’s fells, or exploring the majestic sights of Beijing, Helsinki Airport is a familiar place. On any day of the week, the airport’s lounges, cosmopolitan boutiques and cafés brim with smartphone-toting globetrotters speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Russian, French, German, Finnish, Swedish and an array of other languages including English.

As Helsinki Airport gears up to host 20 million passengers by 2020, there’s barely a trace left of the days when its focus rested largely on Finnish travellers heading off to see the world. Instrumental in that transformation has been the Finnish national carrier’s rapidly growing business in Europe-Asia traffic.

Finnair’s headquarters near the airport are housed in a glassy seven-story building that resembles a three-pitch aeroplane propeller. In a stylish top floor meeting room showcasing Nordic design, Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo sips coffee from a Marimekko-patterned mug.

“Finnair’s strategy is leveraging its geographical competitive advantage and the fastest connection in the growing market of air traffic between Asia and Europe,” he says.

Vauramo, who has been at the helm of Finnair since 2013, has seen the company – and indeed the entire travel industry – face a great many challenges in the 2010s, including years of restructuring and cost cutting. In 2015, Finnair profits bounced

To illustrate Finnair’s turnaround, which is largely based on its strategic business advantages, Vauramo pulls up a flighttracker app on his iPad that shows realtime air traffic around the globe.

Icons depicting small yellow airplanes hover on the screen. Vauramo’s finger traces Finnair’s routes from Helsinki over Siberia to Asia along an uncongested air traffic route. Then, by way of comparison, he points to the very congested airspace corridors above central European hubs.

The difference is like driving on the Autobahn versus stalling in rush hour traffic.

“Helsinki’s geographical location provides Finnair with a structural competitive advantage,” he says.

Because of this position, Finnair is the only European airline that can operate flights to most Asian destinations on a 24-hour aircraft rotation. That means routes can be operated as round trips within 24 hours at regular times using a single aircraft.

“This allows a record-high utilisation rate in long-haul traffic, and decreases fuel consumption and emissions thanks to shorter flight times,” he says.

INVESTMENT IS KEY TO GROWTH Finnair has always tried to keep the future in focus, even during economic

downturns. A key part of its growth strategy has been investing in what is one of the world’s newest and most sustainable fleets; it was the first European airline to operate the state-of-the-art A350, the first of which joined the fleet in 2015.

Yet, in order to understand the present, it’s necessary to look back to a seminal moment.

“Tokyo 1983 made everything possible,” says Vauramo.

In 1983, Finnair became the first airline to fly non-stop from Western Europe to Japan. That first flight to Japan with a specially equipped DC10 – fitted with extra fuel tanks for a route that took passengers over the North Pole – was the start of a successful route that continues to this day, along with several other Japanese destinations that have joined the roster since.

Five years later, in 1988, Russia opened up the so-called Siberia route, which meant Finnair could fly directly to Asia via Russian airspace. And so it did, launching its new route to Beijing that same year.

Fast-forward to the present day, and Finnair currently operates flights to nearly 20 Asian destinations in nine different countries. For example, in 2016, Finnair saw a major increase in Chinese traffic.

Vauramo says Japan is currently Finnair’s biggest market, but that will likely change soon owing to China’s burgeoning middle class of avid travellers and the massive potential therein. From a numbers perspective, China’s population is around 1.3 billion, while Japan’s is 126 million.

Before Vauramo joined Finnair, he was based in Hong Kong for several years as the director of Finnish logistics company Cargotec. One of the key takeaways »

In 1983, Finnair became the first airline to fly nonstop from Western Europe to Japan.

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NEW WORLD ORDER

Many people credit Keijo Suila with taking those first big steps that brought Asia to the core of Finnair’s business strategy. from those years, he says, was realising the importance of building long-term relationships in order to successfully negotiate in Asia.

FIRST STEPS According to a popular ancient Chinese proverb, “the journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

From 1999 to 2005 Keijo Suila led Finnair. Many people credit him with taking those first big steps that brought Asia to the core of Finnair’s business strategy.

When he took over the Finnair reigns, Asian traffic accounted for only six per cent of company revenue.

Just before the turn of the millennium, there were two flights a week each to Japan and China, and three to Thailand. “While these provided valuable experience, they didn’t comprise a financially viable model,” he says.

“I’m a business person, and it was clear to me that to compete you need to have a sustainable growth edge,” he says. “Finland is a small country; I knew we had to look to the world for growth.”

Suila had a strong belief in Asia. Part of his conviction came from his previous career experience as a CEO of the Leaf Group, a leading international confectionary company. “In the late 1980s and during the 1990s I travelled a great deal for work and saw the potential in Asia. I was especially enamoured by China, the place and the people,” he says.

At Finnair, Suila helped turn Asia into a plan of action. Following strategic

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planning in 1999, Suila and his executive team made the decision to start making serious investments in Asian traffic. The new focus involved significant changes and risks, as it would require major investments – all while dealing with previously unheard of international shocks that would follow such as 9/11 and SARS. Despite a great many challenges, the decision to continue with the Asia strategy is marked by a handwritten entry – signed by the executive team members – in the guestbook at Suila’s summer cottage in 2003. At that time the Shanghai route was to be opened, just as the SARS crisis hit Asia. At the time, no one knew how that crisis would play out.

The biggest investment and commitment to the Asia strategy was the decision to order the new Airbus A350 fleet in late 2005, which Suila signed. “It was the tool to make sustainable growth possible,” he says.

Although Suila officially retired in 2006, he has served on the boards of several companies and continues to act as a mentor in the business world and divides his time between Helsinki, Halikko, in the countryside of Western Finland, and travelling with his wife.

“I have many friends in the Shanghai area, and that continues to be one of my favourite destinations,” says Suila.

“Cultures may have differences, but people have so many things in common even if they don’t speak the same language.

At the end of the day, whether you’re running an airline or doing something else, it’s all about bringing people together,” he says.

As the nature of travel has changed – competition has brought prices down, people take shorter and more frequent trips and global events have raised security measures – Finnair has continued its focus on customer experience and being a quality network carrier rather than a low-cost airline.

Vauramo says that focus is key to attracting and retaining customers. “We continue to build on our Nordic heritage and offer a unique experience to our customers,” he says.

Alongside investments such as the A350 fleet, the Nordic experience includes partnerships with many Finnish companies, including design icon Marimekko, reflected on-board with tableware, cabin textiles and other accessories, as well as in Finnair’s digital shopping channels.

As Wi-Fi rolls out to the entire Finnair fleet, Vauramo says digitalisation brings many opportunities to passengers.

“According to surveys, 70 per cent of travellers don’t know before their flight what they will do on holiday,” he says. In effect, they decide on-board, online.

NORDIC COOL Leading travel guides including Lonely Planet and National Geographic Traveller have listed Finland as one of the world’s must-visit destinations for 2017, as Finland marks its 100th anniversary of independence.

“Nordic travel is rising in popularity,” says Vauramo, “And Finland has a lot of offer, from pure nature, clean air and water to peace and quiet. There are also exotic features such as Lapland and Santa Claus, which is a year-round story for Asians, not just a character celebrated at Christmas time.”

Finnair and Visit Finland’s Stopover programme allows passengers travelling via Helsinki to spend up to five nights in Finland on their way to or from their final destination.

“There’s really a world of potential,” says Vauramo. ●

Keijo Suila, the President and CEO of Finnair from 1999 to 2005.

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TEXT BY LAURA PALOTIE

PHOTOS BY INTERVIEWEES

ONE STORY, TWO ANGLES

At home anywhere

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A borderless business environment has rapidly redefined the concept of both home and office.

More than one million Finns today live outside of the country’s borders: two ex-pats, both working in Shanghai, share their experiences.

JUKKA TOIVONEN, BUSINESS OWNER, SELMA CHINA For how long have you split your time between Finland and Shanghai?

Since 2002 I’ve spent about three months of the year in Finland. My wife Tina is Chinese, and when we met in the late 1990s we decided that she would first spend some years in Finland, and then I’d relocate. Luckily both of our careers took us to Shanghai. Our family-owned business, Selma China, helps international companies establish supplier relationships here.

We still own a home and cottage in Finland, and we recently spent more than four months there to welcome our first child, Lucas, who was born in October.

In your experience, how do work routines and cultures differ between Finland and China?

I always emphasise the importance of patience to my Finnish clients doing

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business in China. In Finland business interactions are very direct, while the Chinese take time to process things and develop a relationship before making a decision. On the other hand, the ability to learn and adapt is central to Chinese professional life; one shouldn’t forget that business has been conducted here for thousands of years.

What do you miss about China when you go back to Finland, and vice versa?

I miss the Finnish language, nature and peacefulness. After Shanghai, waking up to the sound of birds chirping at my summer cottage feels almost startling.

In China I especially love the food: the culinary richness and array of flavours is unlike anywhere else. In Shanghai alone there are tens of thousands of restaurants.

My favourites are the Sichuan and Hunan kitchens, particularly Sichuan hot pot.

How do you typically spend your longhaul flights?

I’ve always enjoyed flying – I enjoy good food and wine, and catching up on movies. I’ve collected hundreds of inflight menus over the past 20 years. I’m typically not able to sleep on the plane, so I find other ways to relax and make it feel like a mini-holiday.

INTERVIEW

EMMA FALCK, VP OF GREATER CHINA NEW EQUIPMENT, KONE

For how long have you split your time between Finland and Shanghai?

I moved to Shanghai two and a half years ago for work. My husband, who owns a business in Finland, had to stay behind, so he visits me once a month and I go back about four times a year. The direct Finnair flight between Helsinki and Shanghai has been our lifeline.

When I’m in Shanghai I’m immersed in my interesting job, my friends and the city itself. It’s a wonderful place to live and work – but Helsinki is my home.

In your experience, how do work routines and cultures differ between Finland and China?

Working cultures have certain similarities in Finland and China: we value trying hard, getting things done and learning new skills. There are also differences: In Finland calendars are booked well in advance. Working in China requires more agility and spontaneity, as surprising challenges and opportunities come up almost every day.

How do you typically spend your longhaul flights?

I’m not too affected by jet lag, as long as I switch immediately to the time zone of my destination. If my flight is during the

day I catch up on work, study Chinese, or read good books. During red eye flights I go to sleep right away.

What do you miss about China when you go back to Finland, and vice versa?

Like all the Finnish expats I know, I fill my freezer with rye bread from Finland.

When I travel West, I pack good tea from China.

I of course miss my husband, parents, my brother and his family, and good friends. Helsinki is lovely because it’s “human-sized.” In particular, I love the buildings and atmosphere of southern Helsinki. Shanghai, meanwhile, is the most dazzling and interesting city I’ve ever been to. At night I like looking at the skyscrapers and the people walking down below, and marvelling at the fact that I’m part of it all. Shanghai is developing constantly and quickly – its scale and all the people represent endless opportunities. ●

“The direct Finnair flight between Helsinki and Shanghai has been our lifeline.”

Emma Falck’s career brought her back to Europe in early April 2017.

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SKY GOODS TEXT BY MICHAEL LARKIN

PHOTOS BY ISTOCK

The world inside the cargo hold There is more than just luggage in that cargo hold below the passenger deck. And with state-of-the-art aircraft, better logistics and direct routes to growing markets, the diversity of cargo transported by Finnair is only limited by imagination.

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hat started out as For example, in the late 1980s and 1990s, cargo largely limited to postal cargo was still largely letters and personal luggage printed materials, while electronic and mail in the early 62 components and mobile phones made days of air transportation has now up a notable portion of Finnair’s bulk expanded to an ever-widening range of cargo. other goods.

“That has changed,” explains Forsman. “While we still carry mail primarFrom salmon for sushi bars in Tokyo ily from national postal authorities, it has and fine art for leading galleries to bees for winter greenhouses, Finnair Cargo been steadily declining in lieu of parcels may surprise you with what is below in which have shot up dramatically thanks the cargo hold on their flights. to growing e-commerce.”

Similarly, shipping demand has since shifted away from the heyday of mobile MARKET DRIVEN GOODS phones to other classes of cargo that Fin“Improvements in aircraft technology nair is in a unique position to handle. In and logistics, combined with new marmany cases, it’s all about routes. Finnair kets, have come together to make air offers its customers the fastest transports between Europe and Northeast Asia due transport the safest and most cost-effective means to deliver certain classes to its access to direct routes to the region. of cargo,” observes Christer Forsman, Sales Manager Nordics, Finnair Cargo.

NORTHERN SILK ROUTE Forsman explains that the carriage of goods is constantly evolving as mar“Seafood from the Nordic region has kets dictate and cargo costs allow.

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we have seen a steady increase in demand for cargo space for its delivery,” continues Forsman. “We can deliver fresh Norwegian salmon that is harvested from the sea and delivered to Japanese sushi tables in less than 40 hours.”

Favourable routes also play an important role in another fast-growing 64 class of cargo — pharmaceuticals.

“If we look at the single largest cost factor in the shipment of pharmaceuticals, it’s spoilage,” Forsman points out.

“Temperature deviations outside strict limits impairs pharma shipments and leads to billions of euros in lost revenue. To combat this problem, pharmaceutical companies would rather use direct routes as much as possible to shorten the delivery chain.”

Appropriate terminal facilities and certified handling procedures are important, too. Finnair’s state-of-the-art COOL Nordic Cargo Hub, slated to go live in 2017, has separate, purpose-designed areas to keep pharma products requiring different storage temperatures safe.

FROM BEES TO BASSOONS While the transport of seafood and pharmaceuticals are among Finnair Cargo’s faster growth segments, other 65 niches of goods that require air transport continue to develop. The list of them is long, sometimes colourful and curiously fascinating.

“Bees from Belgium for greenhouses, occasionally a rally car to a competition, an entire hockey rink to China for a match, exotic live animals like penguins and snow leopards from one zoo to another — even a shipment of newly minted Euro coins for Estonia’s entry into the Eurozone,” Forsman vividly recalls.

“We also periodically transport musical instruments as well as 66 objects of art for agents representing orchestras and museums.”

Recently, Finnair handled several high-profile paintings for Beweship, one of the largest forwarding companies in Finland and the leading fine art shipper in the country.

PICTURE PERFECT CARGO “We have a number of well-known museum clients such as the Louvre (Paris), the Victoria and Albert (London), the Metropolitan (New York), and the Ateneum (Helsinki), among others,” says Pirjo Niskanen from Beweship’s Fine Art department.

A recent traveling exhibition of paintings by the early twentieth cen67 tury Italian Master Amedeo Modigliani made its final stop at the Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum. Beweship was the agent responsible for ensuring the paintings made it to and from its destination safely, which in turn tasked Finnair Cargo with the job of transporting the paintings by air.

“It is essential that we collaborate at a very early stage with the party that will ship our clients’ artworks by air,” says Niskanen. “Already in the pre-planning phase of the exhibition, we brought Finnair into the process.”

Issues such as the temperature at which the paintings must be transported, how they are palletised or containerised, their placement during flight, what other cargo is onboard with the paintings as well as security, customs and insurance issues all had to be settled well in advance of the event.

“Finnair Cargo has the right mentality and culture when it comes to the business of shipping art,” says Niskanen.

“Like us, it is not about who is the quickest, but who is the most careful,” she notes. ●

”Recently, Finnair handled several high-profile paintings for Beweship, the leading fine art shipper in the country.”

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TEXT BY ANU PIIPPO AND INTERVIEWEES

PHOTOS BY INTERVIEWEES

The wind beneath my wings How many times have you seen a film or a song title that links romance to flying? Is it just beautifully written prose?

Does love happen like that in real life? These five stories are living proof that it does – and in more ways than just one.

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CROSSING THE DISTANCE “I have spent hundreds of hours in airplanes and at airports. It all began early in 2013 when I met Simon in San Sebastián, Spain – we were both there as Erasmus students. The distance between our respective homelands, Finland and Australia, is 13,500 kilometres, and ever since, we have been shuttling back and forth between the north and Down Under.

However, this year will be special for us not just because of Finland’s centennial but also because Simon will move to Finland permanently. I feel our story proves that distance means nothing if you are determined to conquer it.”

Jatta Koivumäki

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MEET-CUTE IN A PLANE “My husband and I first met on a Finnair flight from Rovaniemi to Helsinki ten years ago. He was flying home from the annual Arctic Lapland Rally and had missed his flight the day before due to oversleeping. I was studying in Rovaniemi and flying via Helsinki to Stockholm to pick up a dog by the name of Chris. When my “future” husband came on board, everybody had already taken their seats, and he sat next to me. We started talking, and imagine my surprise when I found out that he had the same name as the puppy I was about to get. Then he mentioned he had a dog called Romeo. My name is Julia!

We exchanged email addresses, chatted and did some back-and-forth flying. Now we’re married and have a beautiful boy.”

Julia Dahlström

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LOVE IN THE AIR

THAT SPECIAL MOMENT “In February 2002, I was flying to Mexico with my boyfriend of two years. It was our third trip abroad together, and we knew that one of the things we shared was a passion for travelling. We had decided to get engaged during the trip. As we wanted the moment to be unforgettable, we studied the world map carefully and decided that the right moment would be above Greenland. We estimated the location, exchanged the rings, ordered champagne – and didn’t tell anyone about the engagement until we landed for our connecting flight. Now travelling is the joint passion of our family – our two children love it, too.”

Heidi Platan

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MORE THAN LOVE: THE AIRCRAFT “I met a girl on an aircraft spotter site on the internet. I befriended her on Facebook, and gradually we started talking about the sky, the earth and everything in between. A few months later, in November 2015, she asked me to join her on one of the first commercial Finnair A350 flights from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. In fact, she had originally planned to take a different A350 flight, but as the delivery of the new aircraft had been delayed, she took this flight instead and I was able to join her. It was the first time we actually met. We now fly together as an engaged couple to spot and photograph new planes, and it’s truly wonderful to share one’s life with someone who has the same interests and hobbies.”

Joonas Pio

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“Our story proves that distance means nothing if you are determined to conquer it.”

UNUSUAL LOVE AFFAIR “I was en route to Rome where my friends were already waiting for me. I was young and on my first flight, and no one had told me that take-off could cause so much pain in the ears. I felt I was about to die – a young person can be so dramatic…. The person sitting next to me asked in English if something was wrong. I told him my problem, and he replied that I was in luck. He was a medical doctor and had 40 colleagues on board – they were a group of Chinese ear specialists on their way to a conference in Rome. I received excellent consultation and a lot of chewing gum from these lovely professionals. By the time the plane was over Poland the pain was gone. That’s when my love for the Chinese culture began, and has been continuing ever since.” ● Pia Mäkinen

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TEXT BY DAVID J. CORD

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PHOTOS BY VISIT FINLAND

Middle of the world map Thanks to geography Finland used to be as isolated as an island. A rich and active history in aviation has shifted Finland from the periphery to the geographical centre.

Allas Sea Pool is one of many urban sauna and swimming spaces to emerge in Helsinki.

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FEATURE

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rs Alec Tweedie was indeed a pioneer. She was an early tourist to Finland and documented her travels in an 1898 book, Through Finland in Carts. In those days getting to Finland was a chore: it took her four days from England on a steam ship. Today it is easier to get to Finland, but it can still give you the same wide-eyed wonder of the exotic as it did to Mrs Tweedie over a century ago.

Finland is often considered an island when it comes to travel. Besides land connections with Russia or northern Sweden and Norway, a ship or plane is the only way to visit. And unless you want to take a long sea journey like Mrs Tweedie, the best way to get to Finland is by air.

THAWING THE COLD WAR “In the 1950s most of the visitors to Finland were businesspeople, diplomats or individual travellers who could afford the ticket,” says Paavo Virkkunen, a veteran of the travel industry and current head of Visit Finland. “The country didn’t really become a tourist destination until the end of the 1960s and 1970s.”

In the midst of the Cold War, Finland became a bridge between East and West because of its good relations with both sides. Some travellers like the American »

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writer Kurt Vonnegut travelled between West and East Germany through the roundabout transit point of Finland! But even then Finland was becoming a tourist destination in its own right, for many of the same reasons people visit today.

“Finnish nature was already a point of interest in those years. People wanted to come see an untouched environment.

We received tourists from other Nordic countries, the UK, and central Europe.

Travel from the US also picked up in the late 1960s,” says Virkkunen.

During the 1970s and 1980s air connections developed slowly. Regulations were cumbersome and each country jealously guarded air traffic rights. New routes were typically based on the “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” model, where countries entered bilateral agreements to allow each other’s airlines access.

ASIAN APPETITE Finnish tourism authorities got a ground-breaking idea in the 1980s and began to market Lapland as “Santa Claus Land.” This seems self-evident today, but Finland was one of the first countries to begin developing Christmas tourism. British tourists were particularly delighted in 1985 with the opening of Rovaniemi’s Santa Claus Village.

“In the 1990s things changed when Finland joined the EU,” Virkkunen continues. “It became easier to open new routes through the ‘open skies’ development. Visitors from Asia, particularly China and Japan, also began to increase.”

In the late 1990s and early 2000s the number of business flyers skyrocketed.

China became one of the most important markets for many Finnish corporations. Business ties also helped average people learn about Finland, and leisure travel grew as well.

Finnair recognised another Finnish advantage – geography – and opened routes to the Far East for travellers between Europe and Asia. Many customers took advantage of Finnair’s layover programme and enjoyed a stay in Finland during their trip. Today Finland receives a higher proportion of Chinese tourists relative to population than any other country in the Nordic region.

“Thirty years ago I worked for Finnair and opened the first direct, nonstop route from Europe to Beijing,” says Virkkunen. “At the time there wasn’t much travel between the two destinations. It wasn’t until a bit later that we saw Chinese interest in Finland grow.”

GO NORTH, YOUNG MAN Broadly speaking, people fly to four major areas of Finland: the Helsinki metropolitan region, Lapland, the south and west coast Archipelago, and Lakeland in the centre and east. The Archipelago and Lakeland are still up-and-coming destinations, but Helsinki has a world-class airport and Lapland is highly developed.

“We see many nonstop chartered and scheduled flights to Lapland from central Europe in the winter,” Virkkunen says.

“One thing Finland has you won’t find elsewhere is such a well-developed Arctic infrastructure for air travel and tourist services. If you want an Arctic experience in Alaska you need a bush pilot. Here we have a major international airport and a well-functioning service network in the Arctic.”

He is happy that so many people want to visit Lapland in the winter, but Virkkunen, who is from the north himself, wishes people would come see his home at other times of year as well.

“Lapland has eight seasons: polar night, deep freeze, early spring, spring

People are becoming more interested in little-known aspects of Finland.

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HELLO, FINLAND! FASTEST GROWING VISITOR GROUPS to Finland in 2016 1. Chinese 2. American 3. Spanish 4. Dutch 5. Italian Source: Statistics Finland

INTERNATIONAL AIR PASSENGERS in Finland 1996: 5.9 million 2006: 10.5 million 2016: 17.2 million Source: Finavia

melt, midsummer, autumn harvest, flaming colours of autumn, and first snowfall,” he says. “There are such amazing contrasts of cold and warm, dark and light throughout the year in the north.

It might be slow and dreamy in the winter, but it is fast and active in the summer under the midnight sun.”

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL A recent trend in travel reveals that people are becoming more interested in little-known aspects of Finland. In some areas, notably China, there is an exponential increase in individual travellers wishing for personalised trips.

They want to eat local food, make memories in natural settings, and meet the natives. This demand has helped to spur “Live like a local” programmes where a visitor can book a meal or even a walk with a local family.

“We see a lot of this from China,” says Virkkunen. “Chinese Millennials are educated and curious about new experiences in Finland with things we might think are common but for them are a luxury. They want to make memories by breathing clean air, drinking pure water from a lake, and picking berries and mushrooms. Finland is the perfect place to do it.” ● Learn more on Finland’s unique Lapland experiences on the next spread.

The scenic landscape of Punkaharju in Eastern Finland forms an iconic part of the country’s Lakeland district.

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TEXT BY DAVID J. CORD

PHOTOS BY COMPANIES

Building a magical Arctic experience Visitors from all over the world flock to Lapland for snow, Santa, and the Northern Lights. Local entrepreneurs work hard to provide them with a fairy-tale adventure.

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anta isn’t the only one flying in Lapland. According to Statistics Finland, the number of nights spent by foreign visitors was up 40.9 per cent in the far north from January 2016 to January 2017. The Christmas season is the most popular time.

The tourists might be interested in the snowy weather, but Mother Nature needs help from local entrepreneurs to make a memorable experience.

SUPERCARS AND PUPPIES Daniel Eden offers excitement you might not expect in Lapland. His company, Ultimate-GT in Kemi, takes customers to drive supercars on ice racetracks. They have Teslas, Subaru Rally cars, and even a Lamborghini.

“You have to come to Finland for this,” Eden says. “People wonder why Finns are

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such great drivers. Well, here you can find out when you drive on an ice track with a real Finnish rally driver.”

Ultimate-GT offers a tailor-made experience for their customers, from driving demonstrations to full-day training sessions.

If you’d prefer a fluffier 75 adventure, Erä-Susi is for you.

Jukka “Wolf ” Nordman has a farm near Kuusamo with 14 different types of animals – including his star huskies. Last year people from 72 countries visited him for a dogsled safari.

“You would never believe the power these animals have!” Nordman exclaims. “I love the speed, the views of the clean white snow and the silence during a husky ride.”

Erä-Susi is just as busy during the summer when they offer canoeing, bicycling and hiking. Nordman says five national parks are within 100 kilometres of his farm.

NORTHERN LIGHTS AND THE MIDNIGHT SUN “My father owned land on Levi Mountain,” says Kristiina Kylmälahti, manager of Levi Igloos. “He thought it was so beautiful that he wanted to share it with others.”

So Levi Igloos was born. It is a unique destination which offers a restaurant, half-subterranean Northern Lights House (complete with sauna and outdoor Jacuzzi), and glass igloos.

“It’s wonderful in the igloos,” Kylmälahti says. “You are out in nature, sleeping under the stars, and can even see the Northern Lights. My favourite is sleeping during a snowstorm. You can watch the blizzard, but are warm and safe in bed!”

Few people have done more 77 for tourism in Lapland than Pertti Yliniemi. His company, Lapland Hotels, has built 13 properties spread across the north of Finland. Many are close to skiing resorts and draw in visitors from around the globe. He is

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“Here you can drive on an ice track with a real Finnish rally driver.” happy with how tourism is growing but says they can improve.

“We need more direct flights,” Yliniemi says. “At the same time we need to keep developing our ‘product’ for tourists so there is a reason for them to come.”

One huge opportunity Ylieniemi sees is the summer. Tourists come to Lapland to experience the magical winter, but now he wants them to witness the midnight sun, the sun that never sets. ●

DEVELOPING LAPLAND TOURISM ROLF BACKMAN is a Finnair vice president in charge of sales in Finland. He meets regularly with Lapland entrepreneurs to learn about their businesses.

“We have been cooperating with entrepreneurs for several years,” Backman says. “If Finnair understands their bookings in advance, we can plan flights accordingly.”

Finnair also actively promotes Lapland as a destination in all its key markets, especially in Asia. Case in point, Chinese and Japanese tourists are increasing in number. In fact, in the last quarter of 2016, Lapland was the most popular destination for Finnair’s Chinese customers.

“We have added tens of thousands of seats to our Lapland flights for the winter season. The next challenge is to extend the season, which would benefit all players as the Lapland nature is also attractive in the summer and autumn seasons,” says Backman.

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The best times to XXXXX enjoy the lounge sauna are in the daytime after 9 am and during the quieter evening hours.

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AIRPORT WELLNESS

TEXT BY KATJA PANTZAR

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PHOTO BY MINNA HATINEN

Serenity for body and soul Journalist Katja Pantzar takes a relaxing detour to one of the world’s only authentic Finnish saunas found in an airport.

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woman is at her most beautiful after taking a sauna, according to a popular Finnish saying.

With that in mind, I ladle some water over the heated rocks of the stove in the sauna at Finnair’s Premium Lounge at Helsinki Airport. Wrapped in a fluffy white towel, I lean back and enjoy the warm steam that relaxes me, detoxing both mind and body in the process.

As well as helping to maintain clear skin and removing toxins and impurities by sweating them out, the sauna is touted for a range of health benefits such as relieving tension, improving circulation, lowering blood pressure and increasing resistance to illness.

The Premium Lounge’s sauna has remained a relatively well-kept secret.

In fact, the sauna is such an essential Finnish wellness staple and part of the culture that there are about 3.3 million saunas in Finland, which has a population of 5.5 million people.

LOUNGING ABOUT Après-sauna , I step into the 400-square-metre lounge showcasing Nordic design and nature. The Premium Lounge menu highlights Nordic fare with healthy gourmet snacks and meals served on Marimekko tableware, and drinks poured into classic Iittala Ultima Thule glassware designed by Tapio Wirkkala.

While there are areas for working and options for lounging about in design classics such as the Tulip and Womb chairs by Eero Saarinen, the mood is set for relaxing, with several quiet sections. At the back of the lounge, airside, the Relaxation Zone features individual design recliners separated by opaque curtains where it’s possible to enjoy a restorative nap.

Opened in 2014, the Premium Lounge’s sauna has remained a relatively well-kept secret, as few people are aware that there’s a Finnish steam bath located next to the private shower suites and changing rooms.

I’m told that the best time to enjoy a leisurely sauna is in the daytime after 9 am following the early morning rush, and during the quieter evening hours for those departing on long-haul flights to destinations such as Singapore and Hong Kong, for example.

Though the sauna is unisex, its clientele is predominantly male, likely because women often arrive at the airport with their hair and makeup done pre-flight.

Now if I were about to take an evening flight, taking a sauna and enjoying the amenities of the lounge with a redcheeked post-sauna glow would provide the perfect way to relax with a few moments of peace and quiet before heading out into the world. ● FINNAIR PREMIUM LOUNGE, between gates 36 and 37 is available exclusively for Finnair Plus Platinum and Gold members (+ one guest), and oneworld Emerald cardholders. Finnair’s Business Lounge is adjacent to the Premium Lounge and is available for Finnair Business Class passengers. Other travellers may purchase tickets to the Business Lounge during off-peak hours. The sauna can be used by Premium and Business Lounge visitors.

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DESIGN

TEXT BY SILJA KUDEL

PHOTOS BY FINNAIR, PÄIVI H. FERNSTRÖM, BUKOWSKI

Wings of imagination Finnair and Finnish design share a closely linked history. We look back at ten milestones from the past five decades.

INSPIRED BY ICE MAD ABOUT MOOMINS Back in the 1940s, the Finnish writer and artist Tove Jansson created Moominvalley, a fictional haven populated by a gallery of irresistibly unusual characters. Today the timeless Moomins are loved around the world for their unique look and warmly philosophical outlook on life. In 1995 Finnair unveiled its new look as the Official Airline of the Moomins. Sniff, Snufkin and Little My are among the characters featured in the livery and interiors of two Finnair Boeing MD-11 flying to Japan, where the Moomin brand currently matches Pokémon in brand recognition.

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When Finnair passengers enjoy a beverage in Business Class, they wrap their fingers around a superbly tactile piece of Finnish design history. Tapio Wirkkala’s classic Ultima Thule glassware was custom-designed for Finnair and had its debut on the 1969 maiden flight to NYC, and to this day it remains the most popular line ever produced by design brand Iittala. Inspired by the landscapes of Lapland, the surface resembles melting ice. Nearly 50 years later, Finnair still believes there’s no lovelier way enjoy to bubbly than from a frosty champagne glass by Wirkkala.

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Nordic hygge, or cosiness, finds fresh expression in Finnair’s cabin accessories.

MARIMEKKO MAGIC BEST LINEN ONLY The linen damask napkins, placemats and tablecloths on the 1969 maiden NYC flight were designed by the world-renowned Dora Jung, pioneering Finnish textile artist and three-time winner of the Grand Prix at the Milan Triennial. Combining earthy tones with exquisite graphics, Jung created a linear pattern evoking the laminated surface of wooden aircraft propellers. Paired with Wirkkala’s tableware, Jung’s textiles conveyed a subtly sophisticated image of modern Finland. Today, Jung’s textiles for Finnair are sought-after vintage collectibles.

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Nordic hygge, or cosiness, finds fresh expression in Finnair’s cabin accessories. The Mari­mekko for Finnair Collection of textiles and tableware combines blue, green and light grey tones with evergreen vintage patterns by Maija Isola to create a calm yet inspirational signature look for the cabin. The collection was designed for inflight use by Marimekko’s designer Sami Ruotsalainen, in original Marimek­­ko patterns by Maija Isola – a partnership that is unique in aviation history: no other airline has worked with a design house on a similar level of depth and detail.

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“F” FOR FABULOUS POPPY LOVE Designed by Maija Isola in 1964, the classic Unikko (Poppy) pattern is over a half-century old, yet retains a fresh, playful look that never fails to raise a smile.

Originally designed as a textile, the pattern has adorned everything from tennis shoes to tea cups – not to mention Finnair’s planes. A blue version of the perky poppy brightened up the fuselage of an Airbus 340 from 2012 to 2017. Still flying today is an Airbus 330 sporting blueand-green Unikko livery on intercontinental routes. This special livery created exclusively for Finnair celebrated the Poppy’s 50th anniversary in 2014. The same exclusive design has also been featured on mugs, pouches and bags in Finnair’s travel retail selection.

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In its 46th year, Finnair launched its maiden flight to the Big Apple in 1969, roughly two months before the US landed on the moon. Finland’s leading designers were enlisted to create a signature look for the cabin of the DC-8. The glassware, china and cutlery were designed by the legendary Tapio Wirkkala. His streamlined cutlery was so ardently admired that it mysteriously began to vanish by the thousands, and soon had to be replaced.

Wirkkala’s Finnair chinaware is now a vintage rarity, featuring “F” emblems arranged like a flock of birds.

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JUDGE BY ITS COVER A flight with Finnair wouldn’t be the same without sitting back to enjoy a moment’s escape with the glossy package peeking from the seat-back pocket. Founded in 1980, Blue Wings is one of the world’s oldest inflight magazines. Offering airborne reading with substance, it combines gorgeous photography, fresh layouts and a cosmopolitan mix of stories accenting design, culture and lifestyle.

Published in English ten times a year, the magazine has a readership of 114,000 and is also available online.

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PLASTIC FANTASTIC

AALTO FOREVER Continuing its legacy of cham86 pioning Finnish design, Finnair offers a select range of classics through the Finnair Shop. And if ever there was an iconic Finnish designer, it is – hands down – the famed architect Alvar Aalto. Timeless items by Aalto available through Finnair include the ever-youthful Artek 900 birch tea trolley from 1937 and the seductively undulating Savoy Vase from 1936. Both pieces have stood the test of time beautifully and wouldn’t look out of place in a contemporary design blog.

The coveted Ball Chair is a cult 87 icon of Pop aesthetics designed in 1963 by Eero Aarnio, who is still at the peak of his creative powers at the age of 84 – and still crazy about plastic. As hip today as it was back in the swinging 1960s – when it graced the cover of Playboy magazine – the chair was as an eye-catching décor element added to Finnair’s New York office in 1969. Today, lucky passengers can curl up in the lap of this curvaceous beauty in Finnair’s Lounge in the Schengen Area at Helsinki Airport.

THAT SPECIAL GLOW The soothing, airy interiors of Finnair’s new Airbus A350 XWB aircraft were created in cooperation with dSign Vertti Kivi & Co. The fresh Nordic look is brought to life by an innovative, dynamic LED lighting system that changes the colour and mood of the cabin to help passengers adjust to new time zones and seasons on long-haul journeys, switching from glowing orange in the East to fresh blues on arrival in Helsinki. “Moving Clouds” and “Northern Lights” are among the special scenarios designed exclusively for Finnair. The design received a prestigious International Yacht & Aviation Award for design excellence. ●

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AIRCRAFT TEXT BY TIM BIRD

PHOTOS BY FINNAIR, AIRBUS, WIKIPEDIA/RUTHAS

Fast forward to the future Finnair’s fleet has evolved from a seaplane carrying a handful of passengers in the 1920s to the most high-tech aircraft of the 21st century.

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innair’s fleet has advanced beyond recognition since its first Junkers F13 airplane took off on its maiden flight from Helsinki for Tallinn on March 20, 1924. Bearing the name of Finnair’s founding predecessor company, Aero Oy, the Junkers plane carried just 269 passengers in its first year of operations. Compare that with the total of 10.8 million carried in 2016.

The airline’s jet age began with the introduction of Caravelle aircraft to the fleet in the 1960s, when the Finnair name was made official and annual passenger numbers first topped the one-million mark.

Captain Heikki Ahola flies as a double-rated pilot of wide-body Airbus A330s and A350s on long-haul routes.

Although he never sat at the controls of a Caravelle cockpit, as Finnair’s senior pilot he has unsurpassed cockpit experience and clear memories of his favourite airplanes to fly.

KARAIR DC-6: WONDERFUL TO FLY The DC-6 aircraft was conceived as a passenger plane but in the 1970s Finnair’s subsidiary, Karair, operated a version converted to a cargo-carrying configuration.

“I first flew in 1979 as a pilot of DC-6 aircraft in the livery of the Finnair sub-

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sidiary, Karair,” Ahola recalls. “It was a wonderful aircraft to fly for a young pilot like myself.” It was also the first Douglas aircraft type to enter the fleet.

DC-9: LIKE DRIVING A SPORTS CAR The American McDonnell Douglas was the main commercial aircraft manufacturer in the world in the late 1960s when its DC-9 aircraft entered service on Finnish and European routes. DC-9s evolved into the MD80, narrow-body workhorses on short-haul Finnair routes in the 1980s and 1990s.

“I especially liked the DC-9-40 version – manoeuvring the aircraft during landing was comfortable, like driving a sports car! The MD-80s that I flew were also powerful. But landing could be difficult, especially at airports surrounded by mountains, such as Innsbruck and Madeira,” he says.

AIRBUS A350: COMFORTABLE, QUIET, FUEL-EFFICIENT The arrival of the first Airbus aircraft, namely the Airbus A320 family aircraft in 1999 to serve European and Finnish routes, represented a big change in flying technology. The wide-body A350 for long-haul routes is Finnair’s latest Airbus.

“The laws of aerodynamics haven’t changed, but the wing and body shapes and computer-based flying systems are different,” says Ahola. “The A350 is a pleasure to fly, sensitive to control, but like driving a train when you learn how to fly it. The pressure differential is low and air quality is improved compared with other airplanes.”

The first of 19 Airbus A350 aircraft was welcomed into the fleet in 2015, supporting Finnair’s commitment to lower carbon dioxide emissions and reduce noise. ●

“The laws of aerodynamics haven’t changed, but the wing and body shapes and computer-based flying systems are different.”

DOUGLAS DC-6C

MCDONNELL DOUGLAS DC-9

Cruise speed 315 mph (507 km/h). Range, with max payload: 5,460 km. Maximum cruising height: 21,900 ft (6.7 km). Cargo variant of DC-6. Powered by 2,400 hp Pratt & Whitney engines.

Maximum cruise speed: 907 km/h. Maximum range (DC-9-50): 3,326 km. Seating configurations varied from 109 (DC-9-15) to 139 (DC-9-50).

Designed for short but frequent flights, and for shorter runways. First introduced in the mid-1960s.

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AIRBUS A350 XWB

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Maximum cruise speed 900 km/h. Maximum range: 15,200 km. Seating: 297 passengers. Quiet, fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent engines. Full LED lighting system in cabins project 16.7 million colour shades.

Wing span: 64.75 m. Carbon composites, titanium, aluminium alloys used for a lighter body.

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RECYCLING

TEXT BY FRAN WEAVER

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PHOTOS BY JUKKA MULLER

What happens to old aircraft: Olga’s story The story of Olga, a recently retired Airbus A340, shows how Finnair works to ensure that aircraft are safely dismantled after reaching the end of their useful lives, with their constituent materials and parts responsibly reused and recycled.

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innair’s technical staff often apply female nicknames to their beloved planes. Olga – officially known as OH-LQA (A340-311, Manufacturer Serial Number 58) – was made by Airbus in France in 1994, though she only started flying for Finnair in 2006. She was taken out of service in June 2016, after flying for nearly 100,000 hours, travelling some 80 million kilometres (equivalent to more than 100 return flights to the moon), mainly on Finnair’s Asian routes.

“It always feels sad to let a perfectly working aircraft go, but at least we know she’ll be replaced by a more efficient and sustainable aircraft,” says Heidi Heikkilä, who heads Finnair’s fleet management projects. “With aircraft you can’t keep using them until the end of their lifecycle like a car or a bike!

“It also helps to know that aircraft like Olga are carefully and safely dismantled – and that as much as 95 per cent of an aircraft can be reused and recycled,” she says.

Aircraft have as many as 3,000 numbered and traceable constituent parts.

Their most valuable components – engines, landing gear and auxiliary power units – are sold off for reuse in their entirety or as replacement parts.

Valuable metals from an aircraft’s fuselage can be sold as scrap. Rubber tyres and glass or plastic windows can also be efficiently recycled.

END OF THE LINE After making her last flight, from Finland to the US, Olga is now being disassembled at an “aircraft graveyard” in Roswell, New Mexico. Heikkilä explains that such sites are often located in desert regions with large areas of hard, flat ground and little moisture to corrode metals. “Olga’s landing gear and engines have already been dismantled, and her aluminium fuselage will soon be stripped for recycling,” she says.

Some of a retiring aircraft’s components and fittings, like ovens, fire extinguishers and flight control computers may be reused by Finnair. “We also try to find creative uses for certain materials

like textiles, by giving them to charitable recycling schemes. For instance, we have sent blankets to the Red Cross for emergency relief,” adds Kati Ihamäki, Finnair’s Director of Corporate Sustainability.

The only non-recyclable parts of an aircraft are oils, hydraulic fluids, some wiring and certain cabin fittings. Some of these materials are classed as hazardous wastes. “It’s important to ensure that end-of-life aircraft are safely disassembled in line with the aviation industry’s global standards,” says Heikkilä. “Olga has gone to one of the largest and most respected aircraft dismantlers, who follow the best practices set out by the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association.”

Olga is the first aircraft to be retired while still under Finnair’s ownership. Previous planes that reached the end-of-lifecycle with Finnair were returned to leasers or sold to other airlines for further use.

The global aviation industry as a whole is today facing the herculean task of retiring large numbers of ageing aircraft. “Sustainable flight operations are a cornerstone of Finnair’s operations, and we see this as also applying to the dismantling of our aircraft,” says Ihamäki.

“The whole process must fully comply with regulations on health, safety and environmental impacts, as well as airworthiness.” ● ◀◀ Olga was painted white before her final flight to Roswell, New Mexico. ◀Retired aircraft go through various stages of disassembly at the site known as the “aircraft graveyard.”

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SHORT STORY

TEXT BY EMMI ITÄRANTA

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ILLUSTRATION BY HELMI JÄRVINEN

Behind her eyes, every sky

T

hat night she dreams of walking on clouds, solid as polished stones. She moves her foot to the next one and is astonished at the brightness beneath. She has spent decades studying detail: how petals curve and darken towards the centre that holds them together, the way an animal’s bare bone becomes a window through which to examine the depth of the sky.

But this way of seeing is as new as if she had just opened her eyes for the first time. Below, she senses a landscape reduced to form and colour, the brushstrokes of rivers, the mosaics of cities. It has been years since she looked at the clouds from above. Yet in the dream the sensation is as dazzling as it was then.

It lifts her like a moth on a breeze, frail wings and body bursting with freedom.

THE SOUND OF BARKING from outside wakes her. A stray dog from the village must have wandered here. For a moment she is surprised at the loss: of light, of the sky. The darkness of the room feels soft and stark at once.

The rug is coarse against her soles, the doorknob cool from the night. Her joints ache. When she pulls back her hair and

touches her face, the lines beneath her fingertips feel deep.

Sunrise blushes at the edge of the wilderness that is her backyard. She tries to determine what colour the horizon is today. The pink of raw salmon wrapped in tiger lily orange, perhaps, dissolving into blue around the edges.

In the garage she leaves the large doors wide open. The morning air is still crisp, but it will grow hot in an hour or two. The smell of paint and varnish stings her nose. The canvas fills an entire wall. She spent days stretching it, wanting enough space to contain the sky, although she knew it to be impossible.

Now the canvas is vast as a desert. Her traces on its surface will fade, yet she cannot resist leaving her mark.

She summons from her memory the sky she saw from above the clouds, through an oval-shaped window, beyond the edge of the metal wing. She has captured it before. The largest of her skies hangs in a museum over a thousand miles away. She travelled to oversee it being hauled into place.

The thought brings on a tinge of melancholia, but she did not believe in overwhelming emotion as fuel for art when

she was young. Nor does she believe in it now.

She rolls up her sleeves and gets to work.

There is a place between forever and the brief hours of life where everything flows. The bristles of the brush press onto the surface of the canvas, rustling against the fibres, tracing the movement of hand and mind. She has never known where the shapes come from. It is as if her spirit gives birth to them in order to resonate with the world, as if all senses together are not enough, but new ones surge out of her, turning sounds into arcs of blue and green, transforming sensations into spirals.

SHE HAS REMOVED her wide-sleeved cotton jacket and is wiping sweat from her upper lip when she hears the car.

She is not expecting visitors today. She has hired a few locals from the village to work around the house and help with the grocery shopping, but she knows the sounds of their engines by now. This one is different.

She takes a sip of water from a glass bottle and walks to the door. The car engine stops. The door opens and slams »

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closed. Footsteps approach on the stones of the patio, then across gravel.

The visitor halts, clears her throat. She recognises her. Maria.

“I thought you were not supposed to come until Friday,” she says.

“I know,” her niece responds. “I tried to call.”

A little guiltily she thinks about the phone, its cable unplugged from the wall.

“I don’t pick up calls when I’m working.”

“I know,” Maria says again. “I can go to the inn at the village for a couple of nights. I just thought you’d like to see this.”

Maria pulls a newspaper out of her bag and rustles it open, spreads it in front of her eyes.

She stands still. She could lean closer to the newspaper, but it would make no difference. Small details, such as the outlines of letters, are among the first things to fade. So the doctor had said. But she knew that already. She hopes to keep the colours a little longer.

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She can sense the exact moment when Maria understands.

“Oh,” Maria says. The sand makes a gritty sound as she shifts her weight.

“It’s a very good review,” Maria continues after a long pause. “One of the best your exhibitions have ever had. Would you like me to read it for you?”

“Maybe later,” she says. “Thank you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” It makes no difference now, she wants to say. There have been enough reviews, good and bad. I may not have painted every flower or every sky, but I have painted many. I have my landscape, even if some details are blurred now and shadows are slowly swallowing the light.

We are granted things at random, and at random they are taken from us. We are always undeserving. I still have my sight, only different. It is moving from my eyes to other places, until it will eventually be in my hands, my ears, everywhere in my body. Something is disappearing from me, but something else is taking its place.

Behind my eyes, I have every sky. I am nearly eighty years old, but I still have life left. If these are the last clouds I paint, I will have been more fortunate than most.

Aloud she says, “Of course you can stay. The door is not locked. Make yourself comfortable.”

Maria folds the newspaper away.

The sun burns on her cheekbones.

“I’m sorry I won’t join you,” she says.

“I’d like to work for a few more hours.”

Maria is quiet.

“While there is still light,” she adds.

“Of course,” Maria says.

AS SHE WALKS into the garage, she hears Maria’s footsteps on the patio. She turns, the day still on her face. Behind her eyes, the sky stretches out to infinity over the horizon, spun from pure light. ● This work of fiction is loosely inspired by the life and art of Georgia O’Keeffe.

EMMI ITÄRANTA (b. 1976) is a Finnish­­ author living in Canterbury, UK. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja in Finnish) has been published in 22 languages.

The translation rights of her second novel The City of Woven Streets / The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki in Finnish) have also been sold to several territories. Itäranta calls her work speculative fiction with hope.

She writes both in Finnish and in English.

TEXT BY STUDENTS FROM KULOSAARI SECONDARY SCHOOL

PHOTO BY VISIT FINLAND/ HARRI TARVAINEN

VISION

Envisioning tomorrow The end of the 20th century was an era of rapid progress and unpredictable change.

What will the first half of the 21st century bring?

What role will flying play in people’s lives? A group of 16-year-old international students from Kulosaari Secondary School in Helsinki share their thoughts with us.

“HE SAT IN the window seat with a carton of juice in his right hand and a teddy bear under his left arm. He looked out of the window as the plane accelerated down the runway and took off into the clouds. London had never looked so beautiful. After a nap and more gazing into the sky, the plane landed at the airport in his new homeland, Finland.

That little boy was me, ten years ago. Since then I have seen flying as a portal or gateway to foreign lands. A plane is a unique protective vehicle for us to reach new places with ease. Without it, that little boy would never have been able to look down at the world and ponder the infinite possibilities that lay there.” Daniel Harper Kakkonen

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“LIKE THE WHOLE world, the aviation industry is also in a state of transition. New plane models are more environmentally friendly and consume less fuel. In the future, maybe we might see solar planes and even really fast supersonic planes.” Oskari Tihinen

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“AT PRESENT, THE biggest reason for why some people aren’t fond of flying is the big carbon footprint it leaves behind. We must try to find ways to slow down climate change, and it’s vital that we find new sources of fuel for airplanes in the future. With eco-friendly fuels in use, I see the future of aviation as a bright one.” Heta Huhmar

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“VIRTUAL REALITY IS evolving rapidly. Elon Musk has said that in the future video games will be indistinguishable from the real

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world. Who will bother to fly to New York when they can just put on their VR glasses and visit the Empire State Building from home?” Olli Pauna

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“FLYING IS AN amazing way to see the world. It shouldn’t lose its glamour.” Kamilla Turtiainen

“THE WORLD WILL run out of oil and the aviation industry will have to find another fuel source, which could make travelling cheaper or more expensive. The actual experience of flying will become a more important way to attract customers since the train industry is advancing at a rapid pace.” Mico Halme

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“FLYING OPENS UP routes and connections between people and their dreams.” Ben Roto ●

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A SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS FROM FINNAIR WHO HAVE TAKEN TIME OUT TO HELP WITH THE STORIES IN THIS BOOK

Riku Aho, Miika Haatio, Saara Heininen, Pipsa Hukka, Klaus Järvinen, Kari Kaijanen, Sofia Kangasniemi, Ruusa Koskelainen, Tia Kurppa, Antti Miettinen, Milla Nyholm, Tapio Ollikainen, Jari Paajanen, Noora Pärssinen, Mari Runte, Kati Suonio, Kristiina Takki, Ulla Tallgren, Ville Tolvanen, Milla Väänänen, Minna Väätäinen, Manti Väätäinen-Pereira, Elina Wahlman, Henrik Wickström

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WE’D ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS BOOK POSSIBLE

Max Branders, Markus Haapamäki, Asta Halme, Leena Huhtamaa, Pia Illikainen, Topi Jortikka, Tapio Juutinen, Hannele Jyrkkä, Liisa Kivelä, Ritva Korhonen, Heikki Koski, Toni Koskinen, Petra Laivonen, Marko Lappalainen, Eija Manninen, Emilia Mäkinen, Vuokko Nurmesniemi-Eskolin, Sami Ruotsalainen, Mikko Saariaho, Sami Simola, Johanna Spencer, Johannes Söderström, Björn Weckström

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