FINNAIR OYJ INVESTOR NEWS 12.9.2008 Finnair will begin flights to Istanbul in Turkey next spring. As of 4 March 2009, the route will be flown twice per week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Flights to this metropolis of 12 million residents will depart from Helsinki in the morning and return in the afternoon of the same day. The flight time between Helsinki and Istanbul is 3 hours 20 minutes. The route will be operated all year round and the flights will feature business class. “The Istanbul route will serve Finnish business and leisure passengers in particular and will be served by many connections from Finnish cities as well as Tallinn. From Istanbul, on the other hand, there will be very good connections to domestic locations, the Nordic countries and Finnair's entire Asian network,” explains Petteri Kostermaa, Finnair's Vice President Route Strategy and Traffic Planning. Istanbul is Finnair's second destination on the border between Europe and Asia. The first is Ekaterinburg in Russia, which just opened at the beginning of September. “There has been demand for an Istanbul route for a long time now from companies operating both in Finland and in Turkey. Now we can open the route initially with two flights per week and as demand grows it will be possible to increase the flight frequency,” says Kostermaa. Istanbul's unique history as well as its diversity of cultures and faiths give the city its own fascinating flavour. This impressive metropolis, in its time, served as the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Istanbul's numerous mosques and bazaars captivate travellers from all over the world. Finnair previously flew via Istanbul to Cairo in the late 1970s/early1980s. Finnair Leisure Flights, moreover, flew to Istanbul via Athens a few years ago. The precise flights details of the Helsinki-Istanbul route as follows: AY 955 HEL 0900 IST 1215 D 3,6 A319 AY 956 IST 1315 HEL 1635 D 3,6 A319 Finnair Plc Communications 12.9.2008 Further information: Finnair Media Desk tel. +358 818 4020 or comms[a]finnair.com