Finnair, the flag carrier of Finland, would fly directly from Helsinki to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) beginning May 21 next year.
This move makes it the first airline from the Scandinavian countries to do so, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy on a meeting with the president and chief operating officer of Finnair, Jukka Hienonen, in Helsinki last week.
“Finnair would be flying three times a week to KLIA with the option of increasing the frequencies should there be good demand for the route in the future,” Chan said.
Malaysia has a pact with Finland under the Air Services Agreement (ASA) signed between Malaysia and Finland in 1997.
“Under this pact, Finnair would be able to increase its frequencies by up to seven flights a week or have daily flights,” he added.
During the meeting, Chan gave an assurance to Hienonen that the Malaysian Government, together with the Civil Aviation Authority and Malaysia Airlines, the ground handling agent in KLIA, would give their support to Finnair.
“This is a major breakthrough in having a Scandinavian airlines flying to KLIA,” he said.
With Finnair, the number of foreign airlines flying to KLIA would increase. Currently, there are 50 foreign airlines flying to KLIA.
During the discussions with Finland’s Vice-Minister for Transport Harri Pursiainen, both sides agreed to explore the possibility of having an open sky agreement between the two countries.
