In May 2012, Finnair will begin offering direct service to Chongqing, China.

"China is a key part of our Europe-Asia strategy," said Mika Vehviläinen, President and CEO of Finnair in a statement. "Western China is an important growth area, and the new route will strengthen our market share in the growing Asian markets. In addition to Chongqing, Finnair flies to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong with a total of 26 weekly flights."

The new route will service Helsinki to Chongqing, with a flight time of eight and a half hours.