Pressrelease:
Blue1, fastest-growing airline in Finland

2003-09-29

As a step in its continued expansion, Air Botnia is implementing its most comprehensive renewal program since SAS acquired the company in 1998. In addition to increased production and new destinations, the most visible changes in Air Botnia’s renewal will be a completely new visual identity program, comprising everything from a new name, new logo and graphic design to a new look for the aircraft.

Air Botnia becomes Blue1
Air Botnia’s new name as of January 1, 2004, is Blue1. This dynamic and progressive name is modern and international. There will be three colors in the logo: white, blue and silver. The blue and white represent the airline’s Finnish origins and the silver stylish Finnish design. The number 1, which in the trademark comprises seven small squares, denotes Blue1’s step-by-step route to becoming the fastest-growing airline in Finland.

"We have built a broad and strong platform and have become a recognized factor, not only in Finland but also in the international market," says President Sveneric Persson. "Air Botnia was named – from among 80 airlines in Europe – as the third best airline. ERA - European Regions Airlines Association – awarded us a bronze medal in the "Airline of the Year 2003/2004" contest on September 18, 2003, in Dublin."

Step by step
SAS has had a presence in the Finnish market for nearly 50 years. The operations were rather small until 1998. Five years ago, SAS acquired the Finnish airline Air Botnia and made Finland its fourth home market, in addition to the three Scandinavian countries. Since then, the SAS Group has tripled the number of daily flights to and from Finland from 40 to 120, of which Blue1 operates 102. The proportion of international passengers has doubled over these years and the market share is now 21 percent. Blue1 offers it passengers the possibility to travel direct to other parts of the world, giving Finnish travelers an alternative – the possibility to travel abroad without the need to fly via Helsinki. For example, Blue1 has three daily flights from Turku to Copenhagen and six to Stockholm, four flights from Oulu and five from Vaasa to Stockholm. Connections from Copenhagen and Stockholm are offered to more than a hundred of the SAS Group’s destinations in Europe, the US and Asia. As a result of high flight frequency, Blue1 is able to offer a large amount of choice and customers are able to travel according to their individual requirements.

Geneva, Blue1’s twelfth destination
A new era began for the Company in November 2002, when it took its first step into Europe, with the start of a scheduled service between Helsinki and Brussels. This route was followed by Helsinki - Düsseldorf in May 2003, and the most recent step was taken with the addition of the new route to Geneva on October 6. Blue1 now flies to twelve destinations in seven countries. The aircraft fleet has also been developed since 1998. From having five 19-seater Jetstream propeller aircraft, the airline now has five Avro RJ85 jet aircraft, with capacity for 79 passengers, and five Saab 2000 turbo-prop aircraft, with capacity for 47. The fleet is one of the youngest and most modern in Europe. At the end of October, Blue1 will take the next step in the expansion, which has been under way over the past five years, when four new Avro jets are delivered. Two of these are RJ85s and two are of the larger RJ100 model, with 99 seats. This means that total passenger capacity will increase by 60 percent and the number of aircraft will rise to 14. As of the beginning of November, the total number of daily flights will be 102.

More personnel
In terms of personnel, this expansion will mean nearly 50 new positions, mainly among cabin crew and in the technical department. It is estimated that Blue1 will have 340 employees at the end of the year, compared with 40 in 1998. In total, the SAS Group has nearly 1,000 employees in Finland.

BLUE1 CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS