At 16:20 p.m. on September 21st, 2011, 250 Angry Birds aboard a Finnair Flight AY81 landed at the Changi Airport and took the island city by storm. Accompanying this army were 8 Angry Birds contestants, cabin crew decked in Angry Birds paraphernalia and Finnair's delighted passengers travelling in the first ever Finnair Angry Birds themed flight.

Conceptualized and executed by two of Finland's most loved and innovative companies, Finnair and Rovio along with the hugely enterprising and ever youthful Changi Airport, this maiden voyage started in the beautiful city of Helsinki and ended in the garden city of Singapore. The Finnair aircraft was styled with specially made Angry Birds stickers in line with the Angry Birds Asian Challenge that took place at an altitude of 10,000 metres for four straight hours.

Taking the world by storm, Angry Birds is a video game created for mobile phones by Rovio, a Finnish media entertainment company. With the goal of launching birds at pigs stationed on or within various structures using a slingshot, the game has gone viral all over the world as children and adults get hooked on to its quirky graphics and play.

With Finnair commencing daily Helsinki-Singapore flights since May 2011, this exciting alliance between Rovio and Finnair has added to the carrier's already fresh and creative way of operating. Apart from its aim in becoming the most attractive alternative for all quality-conscious green air passengers in trans-continental traffic in the northern hemisphere, the airline's fun side has ignited a significant presence in Asia.

As Finnish innovation is brought to Asia through the Angry Birds Asian Challenge, Finnair aims to double its numbers of Asian flights to 140 flights per week by 2020. With the longest themed flight in Angry Birds travel history and a grand total of 350 million game downloads since its launch, Rovio is delighted to bring new Angry Birds games to a growing fan base.

During the flight, Angry Birds fans and other passengers on board were able to participate in the competition on game consoles which were specifically programmed for the event. The winner Jani Uljas from Finland, surprisingly not one of the 8 fans on board the Singapore bound flight was crowned the first Angry Birds Asian Challenge champion with a total high score of 62,110.

The 8 fans from Singapore, Malaysia, New York, Finland and the UK were picked from among 600 entries received worldwide in an earlier contest to find the most avid Angry Birds fans to join their avian idols in their longest, non-stop flight from chilly Helsinki to sunny Singapore. Flight AY81 touched down at Singapore's Changi Airport and docked at Terminal 1's Gate D34 boasting a Finnair livery decorated with blue and yellow angry birds.

The winning announcement took place at the Terminal 1 Viewing Gallery followed by refreshments with Polar Puffs & Cakes signature Angry Birds Cupcakes and scrumptious finger food from Mum's Kitchen.

"We hope that through marketing communications initiatives such as our Angry Birds tie-up with Rovio and Changi Airport Group, travellers from Singapore will get to know Finnair better and enjoy the way we do things differently -- innovative, fresh and always designed for you", said Petteri Kostermaa, Finnair's Director of Sales for Singapore and South-East Asia.

Situated on the Baltic Sea and the harbour as its heart, Helsinki is a modern city amalgamated together with its careful preservation of its Finnish heritage. As Helsinki becomes closer to Asia through Finnair's expansions, experiencing Finland's beauty and cultural richness is just a flight a way.