Finnair, Finland’s national carrier, on Friday kicked off an event involving influential local bloggers in its bid for a bigger share in the South Korean airline market.

The air carrier, which offers flights from Incheon to Helsinki, said that six bloggers were chosen earlier this week to fly to their desired destinations in Europe.

The bloggers will also experience the in-flight service of Finnair, which the carrier intends to use to increase brand awareness as well as service quality.

The event takes place as Finnair is preparing to offer daily flights from Incheon to Helsinki beginning next March. It currently operates four flights per week, on four different days.

“The next step will be to have them take off to Europe, use our service and visit the destinations in Europe and share the experience,” said Johanna Heiskanen, Web sales manager from Finnair’s head office. “We received nearly 700 applications from Korean bloggers and this is a number we’re very happy about.”

The six bloggers will each be traveling to 13 different European countries ― such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy ― for a week from Dec. 5-28.

Finnair Korea has also launched an official blog for open and interactive communication with local customers in a bid to be positioned as a leading European airline in Korea.

Since introducing its first flight to Seoul, Finnair Korea has strongly expanded business operations by providing a customized in-flight meal service, having Korean-speaking crew and offering an online pre-booking service for flight seats.

The air carrier has also equipped its aircraft with a Korean-language entertainment service, according to Jani Peuhkurinen, representative director of Finnair Korea.

The Korean market is a fast-growing one. Demand was strong this year, with flights often being fully booked.

“The average growth (in Korea) has been five to six times higher than the average growth,” he said. “We can’t create a success story in two and a half years, but we aim for long term operation in Korea.”

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)