Finnair- A History of Nordic Aviation

Aero Oy, which was later rebranded as Finnair, is one of the oldest surviving airlines. The airline was established in 1923 and started up domestic flights alongside routes to the Nordic and Baltic regions. In the beginning, Aero Oy used German Junkers F13 aircraft, as Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG was a shareholder of the airline. The airline continued to use Junkers aircraft, such as the G24 and Ju52, even after Finnish shareholders had bought back Junkers' shares. During WWII, Finland was occupied by Russian troops, followed by the Germans and then the Allies. Still, Aero Oy managed to continue its operations. After the war, thanks to its location, Finnair was able to start up several routes to the Soviet Union. Later on, the airline was the first carrier in the world to connect Europe with Asia via a polar route, which is considerably shorter than the conventional routes via Russia or the Persian Gulf.