For some years Finnair has operated something of a minihub or focus city at ARN, with traffic rights to carry O&D pax non-stop between ARN and a handful of cities in Europe. What are the origins of this unusual arrangement? Was the service encouraged by Swedish authorities in the interest of offering non-stop services to more destinations from ARN? What are the benefits to Finnair from their perspective? Has SAS opposed the competition at one of their largest cities?

Thanks for any information and/or insights you can offer in regard to Finnair's minihub/focus city at ARN.