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Let Facebook Do the Work for Your Next Flight on Finnair

Another week means it’s time for another carrier to do the social media thing both on the ground and up in the air. This week it looks like Finnair is sending their Facebook capabilities to 35,000 feet, as the airline is trying to get passengers connected during their flights.

Basically what Finnair is trying to do is to allow their passengers to check-in aboard their flight just like the would back on the ground. The new system is able to connect someone’s Facebook profile to the seating map, and then from there they can what friends or other passengers might be up to. In theory it should even alert friends when you’re safely on the ground and in need of a pickup from the airport.

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Finnair Flashes Their Frosty Blue New Business Class

Another week, another new business class seat. This time, it's Finnair's turn to dazzle passengers with a fully horizontal comfy chair. Pair this new seat with their Marimekko design and revamped premium menus and things are a-changing at Finnair.

So the seats aren't exactly new since a few of them already sport some butt-prints on three of the carrier's Airbus 330s. Eventually they will be added to the entire fleet of long-haul planes —A340 and, eventually, A350—to make a consistent product for passengers. And, just like many other European business class upgrades, this one comes with aisle access for (almost) everyone.

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Now Departing on New Routes from United, American and Delta

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· American Airlines:
Not that long ago the Raleigh-Durham area down in North Carolina was awarded a new nonstop over to San Francisco, and for 2013 they’re adding another nonstop to the west coast—this time right over to Los Angeles. It’s American Airlines doing the flying fun on this new nonstop option, as the carrier says it’s getting ready to fly back and forth beginning on April 2.

It’ll be an option each and every day of the week all year long, and things are scheduled to leave RDU around 7:30pm and land over at LAX around 10pm—all times local. Heading back to the east coast with be a redeye flight leaving Los Angeles around 10:30pm and getting into Raleigh around 6:30am the following morning—bring a pillow.

· Finnair:
When it comes to Finnair, they’ve always got some pretty interesting options when it comes to their flights. This week they’re getting ready to start a new nonstop all the way over to China, as the plan is to connect Helsinki-Vantaa Airport with Xi´an Xianyang International Airport. It sounds like things will just be seasonal—at least for 2013—as the flights will start up on June 14 and will run through October 26. This is the carrier’s fifth destination in China overall, so if you’re in Finland and need to get elsewhere they truly have you more than covered.

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JetBlue, Alitalia and Delta Get In On This Week's New Route Fun

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· Alitalia:
We don’t usually hear too much about Alitalia, but that’s not the case this week as they’re busy planning celebrating their latest move. It sounds like the new flights are now up and running, as Alitalia is now flying back and forth between Rome and Abu Dhabi.

It’s Airbus A330s doing the heavy lifting between the new city pairs, but just watch the schedule as things shift a little bit depending on when you plan to depart. Rome flights head out of town on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The flights out of Abu Dhabi do their thing on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

· Finnair:
Thanks to Finnair it’s going to be a little bit easier to get to Vietnam, as the carrier is planning to move some people and planes across the globe. Things aren’t flying as of yet, but the plan is for Finnair to do the nonstop thing from Helsinki, Finland all the way over to Hanoi, Vietnam.

The flights will start on June 14 of next year, and they’ll be the only carrier over in Europe to provide a nonstop option directly in and out of Hanoi. This might not be the best option for a long weekend out of Helsinki, but if you’re doing an around-the-world itinerary this is probably a pretty good connection option from Europe over to Asia.

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Booking a Flight on Finnair Now Means Choosing from Six Ticket Flavors

Fresh off their partnership with Marimekko it looks like Finnair is already back in the news, as they’re spiffing up some of your passenger options before you even board the plane. It all starts when you go to book your flight, as the carrier has all kinds of new ticket types from which to choose.

In total they’re introducing six levels of tickets which will go up for sale beginning at the end of November. First of all, all ticket flavors will thankfully include one free checked piece of baggage, and they’re even throwing in a meal or beverage service. After that things get all crazy, as you’re welcome to package amenities and options with your ticket.

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A Funky Floral Finnair Plane is All Thanks to Marimekko

A few years ago we might have been surprised to hear that an airline was teaming up with a design brand to promote their fleet, but that’s not the case anymore. Cynthia Rowley has helped out United, Kate Spade and Richard Tyler have done a little designing for Delta, and most recently Banana Republic leant some uniform ideas to Virgin America. Well now it’s time for an international carrier to get the designer digs, as Finnair is joining forces with Finnish label Marimekko to bring a little more style to the skies.

The plan is to bring some of the signature style to the airline as soon as this spring. There will be specially designed tableware and textiles all featuring signature Marimekko patterns, and they’ll even sell the stuff through their online store and during flights. That means that you won’t feel the need to stuff your in-flight dining materials right into your carry-on—not that we’d ever do that.

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So You Want to Spot the Northern Lights This Winter.

It's that time of the year again, when Scandinavia touts its reindeer meat and hotels made of ice. Luckily they've got a few other good qualities to keep attracting tourists even in the depths of dark winter...like the Aurora Borealis!

We may have previously told you about viewing the phenomenon from a plane, and Finnair knows that their flights are the best for Northern Lights-spotting. That's why they not only wrote a giant blog post about how the Finns sometimes take it for granted, but they're reminding travelers what side of the plane to sit on for the best viewing (hint: whichever side will face north).

Some other Aurora Borealis tips from Finnair:

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Finnair Flight Crew Flip the Pages of Their Own Storybook

It's not often that an airline comes out with its own book; actually, it's been damned rare since Pan Am ended production of their regional and world guidebooks. Still, it does happen and one such instance is now, with Finnair's publication of Airborne: Tales from A Thousand and One Flights [in Finnish, the title is Taivas mikä työpaikka].

The book, a 256-page collection of flight crew stories, was conceived of and written by Finnair's own people. The stories themselves are short and often with a quip, making for light and quick reading. Here's one such story we nipped off its site:

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Duty-Free Shopping Must-Haves: Airline Exclusives

If you're anything like us, you probably think that the in-flight duty-free shopping catalog can eat up a good chunk of time on long-haul international flights and provide a few giggles or unique gift ideas. This week, we'll dive into the pages of some favorite airline shopping magazines and highlight our picks for the just-can't-live-without items.

Most airlines have a thorough understanding that including some exclusive merchandise in their duty-free catalog will prompt passengers to hand over their cards in exchange for the unique products. In our travels, we have come across a number of items that we had to take a second to think if we actually needed it or had enough room in our carry on. Here are some highlights from our mile high shopping.

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Say HEL-lo to Helsinki: Inside Finland's Deserted Aviation Museum

HEL-lo Helsinki! Hilarious puns on the city's airport code (HEL) aside, our man about the world John "Yes, That John" Walton has been spending some down time in Helsinki this year, and has some great recommendations all this week for things to do in the world's most northerly capital!

Who can turn down an afternoon poking around a completely empty aviation museum, with old planes just waiting for you to clamber around them?

Not us! Ee spotted the Suomen Ilmailumuseo while taking the hotel bus to a Helsinki Airport hotel earlier in the summer, so on our return to HEL, with a carefully crafted morning free, we made sure to stop off.

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Finnair Flight Attendants Surprise Passengers with Bollywood Booty Shaking (VIDEO)

This Friday morning, do you have a weird craving to watch Scandinavian women wearing saris, dancing in sync with lively Bollywood music? Well then, this is your lucky friday!

Just a few days ago, a group of dancing Finns boarded a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Delhi and—you know what's coming—performed a whole dance routine to "Om Shanti Om" in celebration of India's Republic Day. Even business class got a dose of the booty shaking, and check out the flight attendants getting down!

Of course there's a story behind the idea to bring this onboard, and you can read it here, on the Finnair blog. Umm and yeah—we totally want to learn that dance now.

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Finnair Flight Attendants Whip Up Their Own Flashmob

The world loves to watch flight attendants dance. This we discovered when that Cebu Pacific video of FAs doing the safety demo to the tune of Lady Gaga and Katy Perry went viral. Who are we kidding? The world loves to watch flight attendants do anything other than typical flight attendant stuff, so when Finnair's girls got together to dance for their fellow crew at base, it would of course leak online.

The song: "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire.

The place: the Finnair Crew Lounge at what we're assuming is Helsinki Airport

Finnair has already posted it on their own YouTube, so this could be a publicity stunt, but the fact they didn't involve any passengers (or public) leads us to believe this is just what it seems; a few flight attendants got an idea, got their friends to play along and then alerted the airline to the fun, who were game to support it.

Cute! Keeping their black leather gloves on was a nice touch.