Finnair Flies Santa Claus From His Lapland Village To London Heathrow In Official Carrier’s Holiday Kick-Off Flight
Finnair has upheld its capacity as the ‘Official Airline of Santa Claus’ by flying the man himself from Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi to London to kick off his international tour. Santa flew onboard a Finnair Airbus A350 before catching the Heathrow Express train into Paddington station.
Santa flies with Finnair to London
The first stop on Santa’s international tour is London, and rather than his usual travel arrangements by reindeer, Santa flew with Finnair from Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). The airline has been Santa’s official carrier of choice for over four decades, taking him on his customary annual festive tour.
Photo: Finnair
Anssi Partanen, Finnair Market Director Europe, commented,
“We are incredibly excited about bringing the real Finnish Santa Claus to the wonderful city of London, exactly one month before the big day. As part of the international tour, London is specifically important as it is the biggest Finnair hub outside our home hub Helsinki.”
Finnair’s A350s offer business, premium economy and economy cabins; the airline did not specify which cabin class Santa traveled in, or if he paid any excess baggage charges to check his sleigh into the hold. We do know that he checked in his trademark gift sack as Santa was spotted waiting around at baggage claim like a regular passenger.
Photo: Finnair
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The role is linked to the carrier’s charity work.
After fulfilling a few festive duties around Heathrow, Santa hopped on the next Heathrow Express shuttle into central London – this train service is the fastest way to get from Heathrow into the UK’s capital, taking just 15 minutes from the airport to Paddington station.
Photo: Finnair
The tour is part of a partnership with charity The Santa Claus Foundation, which aims to improve the lives of children around the world – Finnair’s role includes flying Santa Claus around the world, a duty it has fulfilled since 1983. Last year, Finnair took Santa all around Asia, including the likes of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, and Delhi, to spread festive cheer to children.
The carrier has added two more daily departures from Heathrow, now operating a total of six daily flights from Helsinki. The airline is offering return fares from London to Lapland starting at £218 ($274). Finnair will also operate a double-daily service to Manchester (MAN) and a daily flight to Edinburgh (EDI).
Busy winter Lapland network
The carrier will operate up to 63 weekly flights between Helsinki and Rovaniemi, a 25% increase in flights year-on-year, and also connects with Lapland airport with a daily Tromso (TOS) flight. In fact, at peak periods, Finnair will have departures headed for Rovaniemi every 30 minutes as visitors from around the world flock to the popular Lapland region.
Photo: BSG_1974 | Shutterstock
Finnair serves a total of 15 airports in Finland. In addition to Rovaniemi, the carrier flies to three of Lapland’s other gateways – Ivalo (IVL), Kittilä (KTT), and Kuusamo (KAO) – and is the only carrier that maintains year-round service to Lapland.
