Flying Finn

Bad news, so the saying goes, travels on horseback. Recent developments at Bangor International Airport shows that good news sometimes hops a jet.

Starting next month, Finnair, a major global airline with a reputation for first-rate service, will begin making 10 stops a week at BIA on flights between Helsinki and Florida, Mexico or the Caribbean. This means Mainers no longer will have to begin transatlantic journeys by detouring through Boston, New York, Chicago or Detroit. Finnair offers hourly flights from Helsinki to Germany — thus Europe, the Middle East and Asia will be at Maine’s doorstep.

Heading south, the picture is a bit more complicated, but still full of potential. Federal law currently prohibits foreign carriers from offering point-to-point service within U.S. boundaries, which means Bangor to Miami for now is out. There is a movement afoot to remove that restriction, but in the meantime BIA is talking with Finnair about opening up flights to Mexico and non-U.S. Caribbean destinations. Let’s hope those talks bear fruit before February vacation.

Then there’s the direct ski charter flights from Great Britain starting next year, the possibility of service to Philadelphia and of a revitalization of U.S. Air’s presence. Suddenly, a big, wide-open airport that has long been a favorite of safety-conscious pilots but increasingly not of bottom-line-concious airlines is back on the map.

But these remarkable developments did not happen suddenly and they didn’t just happen. For example, the staff at BIA worked with Finnair for three years on this new service. The result of this commendable effort goes far beyond the ability to fly from Bangor to Helsinki — it could, in fact, go a long way toward breaking the vicious cycle of population decline, economic stagnation and the scaling back of air service. Not to mention that midwinter nonstop to Cancun.