Champagne celebrations as Blue 1 begins new service Blue 1, the Finnish member airline of the SAS Group, celebrated with passengers last night as its inaugural flight from London Stansted to Helsinki took to the skies, marking the beginning of the airline's twice-daily service. Passengers and invited guests including Lars Ove-Filipson, SAS General Manager UK & Ireland; Mark Pendlington, Director of Communications BAA Stansted and Anne Lind, Director UK and Ireland, Finnish Tourist Board, enjoyed a champagne reception for incoming and outgoing passengers at Stansted Airport. The inaugural flight is the latest addition to the SAS network. Blue 1 is the fastest growing airline in Finland, and offers a two class service on this new route, with Business and Economy tickets available for purchase. Passengers can enjoy flexible one-way tickets which are combinable [1] across the two classes, allowing them to tailor their travel to suit their individual needs; be that Economy on the outbound leg and Business Class on the return.

Lars Ove-Filipson said: "Scandinavian Airlines is very proud to be part of these inaugural celebrations. Blue 1 is a highly respected Finnish airline, with a loyal customer base in Finland and around Europe, and SAS is excited to represent the Finnish airline in the UK market." Finland has a growing business market and at the same time offers a very attractive destination for UK holidaymakers for both summer and winter. Mark Pendlington, Director of Communications BAA Stansted who said: "We are delighted that Blue 1 chose Stansted as key to the development of its already extensive network and we wish them every success with the launch which will no doubt prove to be extremely popular. "Blue 1's arrival is not only great news for our leisure passengers but also for business travellers by providing further support for the growth ambitions of the East of England." Lead-in one-way fares start from �72 including taxes. The new route is operated by Blue 1's Boeing 166-seater MD-90, with the following schedule: London Stansted - Helsinki Depart Arrive Day 08.55 13.50 M, T, W, Th, F 19.55 00.50 (+1) M, T, W, Th, F, Su Helsinki - London Stansted Depart Arrive Day 07.10 08.10 M, T, W, Th, F 18.10 19.10 M, T, W, Th, F, Su For bookings and enquiries please go to:

www.flysas.com

or contact your local travel agent.

SAS has an extensive network of approximately 1,445 daily departures to 146 destinations worldwide including Scandinavia; Shanghai; Bangkok; Singapore; Beijing; Tokyo and Seattle.

For information on SAS destinations and fares worldwide

visit www.flysas.com

or phone the sales team on 0870 60 727 727.

For more information on Finland

visit www.visitfinland.com/uk

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Pictures are L-R: Pirkko Capone from Scandinavian Airlines in traditional Finnish dress; Pekka Pietikainen Captain of Blue 1 plane; Lars Ove-Filipson, SAS General Manager UK & Ireland; Anne Lind, Director UK and Ireland, Finnish Tourist Board; Mark Pendlington, Director of Communications BAA Stansted; Sanna Solo, senior cabin crew member; Heli Heikkila Blue 1 cabin crew member and Elina Nykanen, Press Officer of Blue 1 cutting a ribbon to celebrate the launch of Blue 1's new route from London Stansted to Helsinki at London Stansted on 26 March 2006.

For further information please contact

Jeff Rebello, Advertising and PR Manager, SAS

tel +44 (0)7767 77 824

or the SAS Press Office, 0870 420 3274

or sas@fourcommunications.com.