Indian officials are expected in Finland as early as August to sign a revised bilateral air services agreement aimed at increasing capacity between the two countries, currently linked by Nordic carrier Finnair.
The visit and signing of the new agreement is expected in August or the latest in September, an informed source said.
Finnair operates 12 daily services from Helsinki to New Delhi and Mumbai, and would be adding one more flight to Mumbai in the first week of June. The existing bilateral, modified in May 2006, allows 14 flights a day from each side.
Any increase in capacity will complement trade between the two countries that grew by 31.54 per cent in 2007, to Euro 645.09 million. Nearly 100 Finnish companies have presence in India, including big names like Nokia, Kone Elevators, Elcoteq Wartsila Diesel and Ahlstrom.
Indian IT firms like Wipro, TCS, Tooltech and Zensar too have operations in Finland.
At least "50 per cent of passengers (flying to and from Helsinki) are business travellers," Finnair Indian Sub- Continent Director Taina Tornstrom told PTI.
Finnair, which has been focusing on Asian traffic, flew 1.1 million passengers from the continent in 2007 and the numbers for April this year grew over 15 per cent to 89,238.
{{/usCountry}}Finnair, which has been focusing on Asian traffic, flew 1.1 million passengers from the continent in 2007 and the numbers for April this year grew over 15 per cent to 89,238.
{{/usCountry}}Besides scheduled services, Finnair also operates leisure flights to Goa - a popular tourist destination among Finns.