Helsinki, May 31 (IANS): Finland's largest airline Finnair Tuesday said that it has started direct flights to Singapore with a timetable devised especially for the needs of business travellers.

"Finnair's Asian strategy has worked extremely well. The Singapore route will strongly support our core strategy as well as serving our main target group of customers travelling between Asia and Europe on business," Finnair's chief executive officer Mika Vehvilainen said, according to a company statement.

Singapore is the airline's tenth scheduled destination in Asia.

The company said it was the only airline which offered daily connections between Singapore and northern Europe.

The new route opens up connections to its 50 strong European destination network specially for Asian customers.

"The new route to Singapore gives splendid support to Helsinki Airport's position as the leading long haul hub in northern Europe," the airport's director Juha-Pekka Pystynen said.

Customers travelling onwards through Singapore can connect with flights offered as part of Finnair's partner network to Australia and Singapore's neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The flights are being operated using A340 aircraft.