Finnair Quality Hunters begin their journeys today


From more than 5,200 applicants, Finnair has selected four expert Quality
Hunters, who during a two-month period will visit Finnair's destinations around
the world and observe quality on flights, in airports and at the destinations
themselves. The four lucky globetrotters set off on their journeys today. 
 
"The number of people applying to be Quality Hunters exceeded our expectations
- we received lots of excellent applications from all over the world. I hope
the project will generate high-quality development ideas, which we can refine
for our customers' enjoyment. Hopefully the subject will stimulate much
discussion on the Rethink Quality website," says Jarkko Konttinen, Finnair's
VP, Global Marketing. 
 
The selected Quality Hunters are Christina Lund Sorensen from Denmark, Ella
Marshall from the UK, Warren Singh-Bartlett from Lebanon and Wolfgang Wagner
from Germany. 
  
- Christina Lund Sorensen, from Copenhagen, is a photographer and journalist.
Christina has reported on, among other things, the Indonesian elections for
Danish television. She was also the last Danish journalist in the Bangkok
danger zone during the May demonstrations. In addition to political and topical
issues, she has also written on lifestyle subjects. Christina's first journey
as a Quality Hunter is to trendy Tokyo. 

- Ella Marshall is a London journalist and editorial secretary, who has studied
fashion and journalism. Ella has gathered experience in diverse media sector
work, and she is currently employed as freelancer at the DesignHotels.com
portal. The Guardian and NYLON, among others, have published Ella's articles.
Ella's first travel destination is to pulsating New York. 

- Warren Singh-Bartlett was born in Pakistan to an English-Indian family.
Warren has worked as a teacher in Japan and as a journalist in China. He
currently lives in Beirut and writes for, among others, the New York Times and
Aishti magazine, and also makes documentaries and other programmes for
television. Warren travels on Monday to Rovaniemi, the Land of Santa Claus,
amidst the nature of the north. 

- Wolfgang Wagner has studied in Germany, France and at Harvard University in
the USA. He worked as a consultant for 13 years and is nowadays a capital
investor. Wolfgang has been married for 21 years and he has two teenage
children. This experienced business and leisure traveller lives near Munich.
Wolfgang's first journey is to stylish Milan. 

The Quality Hunters' travels can be followed on the website
www.finnair.com/rethinkquality, where they will blog their experiences and
share photos and videos. The website also presents the participants'
preliminary two-month flight programme. 
 
Those readers who comment of the Hunters' writings or vote for their favourite
Hunter will be entered into a prize draw, with a chance to win a flight package
consisting of two Europe-Asia flights. 

Finnair has been a pioneer in the utilisation of social media. The blog
initiated by Finnair in 2009 has had more than half a million readers,
Finnair's Facebook page, which opened in spring 2010, has more than 23,000
friends, and the Departure 2093 future project reached a billion people
worldwide. The Quality Hunter campaign originated from an idea by PR Agency
Miltton. 
 
Finnair Plc
Communications
4.10.2010
 
Further information: Finnair Media Desk tel. +358 9 818 4020, comms(a)finnair.fi

Rethink Quality website: www.finnair.com/rethinkquality 
Finnair blogs: http://blogs.finnair.com 
Finnair on Facebook: www.facebook.com/finnair 
Photobank: www.finnair.com/gallery 
Finnair Group website: www.finnairgroup.com 
via.Helsinki: www.viahelsinki.com