The busiest airports in December are Kittilä (150) and Rovaniemi (120). The number of flights expected to Kittilä is slightly higher than last year and the number of flights to Rovaniemi is equal to last year or slightly higher.
Approximately 60 charter flights have been scheduled to both Enontekiö and Ivalo, which is equal to last year's numbers. Approximately 10 charter flights have been scheduled to Kuusamo.During the Christmas season, scheduled traffic also brings a lot of passengers from all over the world to Lapland's airports.
The charter flight traffic already started on 21 November, when the first charter flight landed at Enontekiö Airport. The number of flights increases gradually as we get closer to Christmas, and between Christmas and New Year as many as 30 flights arrive at Lapland's airports daily.
Most of the Christmas tourists come from Great Britain. Airports are also expecting flights from the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Romania, France, and during New Year also from Russia.
”If we look at the long-term development of charter flight traffic at Lapland's airports, there are small signs of an increasing trend. After the peak years of Lapland's charter flight traffic, the passenger volumes collapsed by approximately 20 per cent due to the general economic situation in 2009 and now we have managed to get back to the original level, says Joni Sundelin, Finavia's director of network airports, sales and marketing.
”Finavia tries to increase passenger volumes by, for example, increasing the demand for airport services in cooperation with the regions and businesses. The airports' capacity to handle incoming traffic is very good. Finavia's goal is to keep the pricing and service levels of its airports competitive to create prerequisites for air traffic at the airport. Ultimately the traffic volume will, however, depend on the attractiveness of the travel services and the regions, which create the real basis for demand,” Sundelin continues.
Finavia is committed to support the development of Lapland's tourism with other actors. As a concrete example of this, Finavia brought international travel influencers from Europe and other parts of the world to Levi. This group included representatives of many tour operators and airlines.
In addition to an easy access to travel destinations from the airport, Finavia invests in a smooth and pleasant travel experience at all its airports in Lapland. As a part of the extensive investment programme, Finavia has invested EUR 35 million in the development of network airports.
From Lapland's airports, the largest investment this year was made on Ivalo Airport, where a renovation of EUR 13 million is currently being conducted. Ivalo Airport will be Finavia's largest investment in Lapland also next year.
The terminal at Kittilä airport is also being renovated in order to improve comfort and services. You can enjoy Lapland's atmosphere at both the luggage claim area and the gate area by, for example, sitting by the fire.
