Finland’s air navigation services provider Finavia is preparing its airports in Lapland for more than 500 charter and scheduled flights in December.
With the increase in flights, the country is expected to witness its highest air traffic volumes since 2007.
The busiest airports of the month in Lapland will be Kittilä, which expects to receive 150 flights, and Rovaniemi, which will receive 140 flights.
Air traffic volume is expected to grow at Ivalo airport with 93 charter flights, representing an increase of 36 more aircraft than the previous year.
Enontekiö and Kuusamo airports are expecting to receive 58 and 11 charter flights respectively.
Finavia senior vice-president Joni Sundelin said: “The steady annual growth in the number of charter flights shows how attractive winter destination Lapland has become.
“Travel operators in Lapland have done a lot of work in developing travel products also for the summer season.
“The results are now starting to show: Dutch Voigt Travel will bring new charter flights from the Netherlands to Rovaniemi in summer 2017.”
Lufthansa is set to double the number of flights on its Munich–Kittilä route and open a new route from Frankfurt, Germany to Ivalo, Lapland, by December.
Germania will also open three routes from Germany and Switzerland to Lapland for the upcoming winter season.
Monarch Airlines is planning to fly to Kittilä from Manchester and London, UK, while Norwegian Air will fly from London to Rovaniemi, Lapland.
Chinese online marketplace company Alibaba also aims to fly 50,000 tourists from China to Rovaniemi in 2017, 3,000 of whom will visit Lapland this winter.
From 2014 to 2016, Finavia invested €35m in the airports of Lapland, which currently has 48 scheduled flights.
Image: Finland’s Lapland gears up for upcoming winter season. Photo: courtesy of Finavia.
