Finnair, a Finnish airline, is expanding its services between Helsinki and Tokyo, with plans to add an extra flight to Tokyo-Narita during the summer of 2027. In addition to its current daily service to Tokyo-Haneda, the airline will operate up to three daily flights between Helsinki-Vantaa and Tokyo on certain days. The additional flights to Narita will run from May 12 to August 14, 2027, with the exception of a departure from Helsinki on May 13 and a return flight from Narita on May 14. Flight AY71 will leave Helsinki at 12:20 and arrive in Tokyo-Narita at 7:15 the next day. The return flight AY72 will depart Narita at 8:55 and arrive in Helsinki at 15:35. During the summer of 2027, Tokyo-Narita will be served up to two times per day, while Tokyo-Haneda will continue to be connected daily to Helsinki. The schedules are designed to make it easier for travelers to transfer to other destinations in Finnair’s European network. This expansion will increase Finnair’s number of flights to Japan from 28 weekly flights in the summer of 2026 to up to 32 flights per week in the summer of 2027. Tokyo is central to this plan, as the company describes Japan as its largest market outside Finland. "Japan is our largest market after Finland, and the demand for travel to Japan has remained strong. Additional flights to Narita will allow our customers more choices and more practical transfers to Tokyo," said Christine Rovelli, Finnair's director of revenue, in a company press release. Finnair's Japanese network includes not only Tokyo-Haneda and Tokyo-Narita but also Osaka. In the summer, the airline also connects Helsinki to Nagoya, a route reintroduced in 2024. At the time, the Finnish airport operator Finavia described it as the only direct European connection to Nagoya, a major Japanese city. Operating flights to both Tokyo airports gives Finnair a unique offering. Haneda, located about 19 km from the center of Tokyo, is well-suited for business travelers and those with short stays, and Finnair operates daily flights from Helsinki to Haneda. Narita, located about 65 km northeast of Tokyo, provides significant capacity and remains a major hub for international connections. Finnair has long operated as a gateway between Europe and Asia through Helsinki. However, the airline had to restructure part of its Asian network after the closure of Russian airspace to European carriers. Despite this, the expansion of services to Tokyo reaffirms the strategic importance of Japan in Finnair’s long-haul operations and its role in connecting travelers to Europe via Helsinki.