Finnair brings new design collections to aircrafts

Flight attendants from Finnair were showing the tea sets and coffee cups featuring Marimekko's design in Shanghai, Oct 27, 2012. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Finnair Plc strengthened its collaborations with Marimekko Corp, a Finnish design company, and the airline released a collection of textiles and tableware featuring the company's designs on Sunday.

The collections are to be lighter than the ones Finnair now uses in order to reduce aircrafts' carbon emissions, said Mika Vehvilainen, Finnair CEO.

The new collections will be used starting in spring 2013 and during the three years of the collaboration, and an exclusive selection of Marimekko-designed products will be available to Finnair customers in in-flight sales and the Finnair Plus Shop.

In addition to improving customers' experiences in flight, both companies hope the collaboration will draw attention to their brands in the Asian market, in China in particular.

"Both of us will get profit from the cooperation," Vehvilainen said.

Marimekko does not have a store in the Chinese mainland but plans to open 14 in China in the next three and a half years, said Mika Ihamuotila, CEO of Marimekko.

Finnair made Chongqing its fourth destination city in China in May and now has four flights going each week week between Chongqing and Helsinki.

Finnair now has 30 flights going each week from Helsinki to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Hong Kong.

The flights on the route are seeing good business and the carrier is looking at adding flights, Vehvilainen said.

Finnair is also looking for opportunities in other second- and third-tier cities in China.

wangwen@chinadaily.com.cn