'I used to sit at the gate near it and sell people scones, so I suppose you could say that working in the travel and tourism sector was in my blood from an early age,' she says.
Finn's steely entrepreneurial skills have come in handy in the course of her meteoric rise through one of Ireland's most successful companies, and though the job has its difficulties, she is prepared to endure them, especially during tough times for the industry.
'The hardest part is the very early start to the week. I'm up at 4.30am every Monday, when I fly to Dublin for our weekly meeting, but that's something I'm used to at this stage,' she says.
Her role, which has just been created by Ryanair, highlights just how important the area of ancilliary revenues is becoming to the carrier, which has ruled out the introduction of the fuel surcharges whose adoption by rivals has been dominating the headlines. Instead, it has chosen to focus on developing its discretionary passenger charges and brand partnerships.
'Fuel surcharges have the potential to hugely damage many of our competitors,' says Finn. 'Implementing them is increasing their airfares, and fuel surcharges are not discretionary, whereas our ancilliary revenue services are. With us, if someone wants a cheap airfare, they can have it. It's that simple.'
Having begun her career at Ryanair in sales and marketing in the Italian market, Finn is well placed to drive the extra revenues that will help the carrier to avoid increases in airfares.
'We are the pioneers in terms of ancilliary revenue, and we are on target to achieve 20% of our revenues from these sales over the next three years,' she claims. 'The more we decrease costs and drive down fares, the more important these become.'
In typical Ryanair fashion, Finn is bullish about the airline's future following the release of its annual results in March, which showed a £365m profit. 'The airline that can withstand the current pressures is the one with the lowest cost base and fares, the one that is driving revenues in another direction - that is us,' she says. 'It is a competitive time, but if Ryanair considers it tough, then God help our competitors.'
One aspect of her strategy is to link with partners who can match Ryanair's growth. 'We expect to carry 83m passengers by 2012. We have to consider whether prospective affiliates can deliver the volume of growth that we need. We already have strong partners such as Hertz and Expedia, and there are more to come,' she says.
When she is not hunting down suitable businesses with which to form ties, Finn makes the most of her spare time, listing tennis, hill-walking and skiing among her interests.
Promotion and advertising are, like surcharges, touchy subjects at Ryanair. The airline has repeatedly been rapped on the knuckles by the ASA for ads deemed offensive or inappropriate. This is unlikely to bring about a change of strategy, and all its advertising will continue to be created in-house. 'We get more bang for our buck with quirky, creative ads, and we stay in-house to keep costs down, which allows us to pass savings on to our customers,' says Finn.
Nonetheless, Ryanair is not immune to the turbulence affecting the sector. This winter, it will withdraw the services of 20 planes from bases where it claims high airport charges make it more profitable to ground aircraft than fly them.
She certainly has her work cut out, but Finn is adamant that the carrier can maintain its low-fares policy in an environment that is getting more competitive by the day.
Career History:
- 1997-1998 Marketing executive, Ireland Tourist Board, Norway
- 1998-2002 Sales manager, Ryanair, Italy
- 2002-2007 Head of sales and marketing, Ryanair
- 2007-present Head of commercial revenue, Ryanair