Finland's national airline, Finnair, has become an e-commerce frontrunner in its field. The company offers many Internet and mobile technology-based services.

Many technological solutions have been developed to facilitate air travel. In the case of Finnair, they are reflected in fewer queues, the speeding up of travel formalities and added travel convenience. Finnair's services include an Internet-based ticket office, Ticketless Flying, an eCheck-in service and a wireless local area network at airports.

When going on a trip, the nearest Finnair ticket office can be found on the Internet. Here, passengers can book and purchase tickets for all of Finnair's regular flights.

Customers who buy their tickets from the Internet ticket office do not have to come and collect a printed ticket anymore. Finnair's Ticketless Flying service is available on domestic and Scandinavian flights and flights to Tallinn, Estonia. The passenger simply produces an identity card, credit card or a Finnair Plus card at the check-in point and at the gate, and boards the plane. The electronic MultiFLYe serial ticket is also paperless. The passenger buys the ticket, books the flights and downloads itineraries from the Internet. A plastic card is all that is needed for travelling.

A new addition to Finnair's services is the eCheck-in service, which allows the passenger to check-in for international scheduled Finnair flights from Helsinki on the Internet or by using a WAP mobile phone. In the future, check-in will also be possible by sending an SMS message. The service obviates any need to check-in at the airport.

Finnair is part of the Oneworld alliance. Oneworld's Helsinki Mobile Competence Centre specialising in the development of electronic and mobile services is managed by Finnair. It is expected that by 2006 the majority of Finnair's sales will go through the Internet, and over a half of all passengers will use Finnair' s Internet services for ticket reservations and check-in.

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