Well Connected: Finland Launches New European Routes

Finavia, Finland’s airport authority, has unveiled an ambitious plan for the 2023-2024 winter season, launching 24 fresh European routes.

On Sunday, October 29, the global aviation winter season began with the introduction of new routes at Finavia’s airports, writes Helsinki Times.  This move ensures direct flights from Finland to over 130 global destinations during the chilly months as a host of new international routes commence.

Lapland’s Record-Breaking Season

Petri Vuori, Finavia’s Head of Route Development, stated, ‘Continuous collaboration with airlines and regional partners ensures that our connections remain comprehensive and Finland accessible. The upcoming winter season reflects our long-term efforts. Our airports will connect Finland to over 130 destinations worldwide.’

Lapland’s airports, managed by Finavia, are prepping for an unprecedented season, launching 18 new routes from Europe. This season will feature 35 direct international routes to Lapland, providing an additional 240,000 passenger seats, 16 per cent more than last winter.

Ryanair And EasyJet

Ryanair is poised to initiate flights from Liverpool and Milan to Rovaniemi between October and November. Meanwhile, EasyJet plans to operate routes from five cities – Edinburgh, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Naples – to Santa Claus’s hometown in December.

Iberia And Vueling

Four airlines are set to begin their services on December 2. These include Iberia Airlines from Madrid, Vueling from Barcelona, Finnair from Tromso, and Austrian Airlines from Vienna. Additionally, Eurowings is launching a route from Rovaniemi to Berlin in January 2024.

Ryanair is resuming its Rovaniemi services from Dublin, London Stansted, and Brussels Charleroi. EasyJet will maintain its routes to London Gatwick, Bristol, Manchester, and Milan. KLM, Air France, Turkish Airlines, and Eurowings will continue to operate their respective routes from Rovaniemi.

In November, EasyJet is launching two fresh routes to Kittila from Manchester and London Gatwick. Other airlines returning to Kittila include Air France from Paris, Eurowings from Dusseldorf, Air Baltic from Riga, and Lufthansa from Munich.

Beyond Lapland: More Flight Offerings

Eurowings is slated to start its festive flights from both Ivalo and Kuusamo airports to Düsseldorf. From February 2024, Swiss airline Edelweiss Air will commence its flights to Ivalo and Kuusamo from Zurich. Meanwhile, Lufthansa will resume its services to both locations from Frankfurt.

Finnair aims to increase its flight frequency from Helsinki-Vantaa to all Lapland airports managed by Finavia. Notably, Norwegian is also set to operate flights from Helsinki-Vantaa to Rovaniemi.

Vuori added, ‘The upcoming winter tourist season in Lapland is expected to break records. We’re now focusing more intently on developing the summer season in Lapland and its potential benefits to the region.’

Air Baltic is set to introduce four new routes from Tampere-Pirkkala Airport between October and December. These include Tenerife and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Kittila, and daily flights to Tallinn.

In December, Lufthansa is launching a much-anticipated route from Oulu to Munich. At the onset of the winter season, SAS is starting its service from Helsinki-Vantaa to Oslo. Vueling, by the end of October, will resume its thrice-weekly flights from Helsinki-Vantaa to Barcelona.

Furthermore, Helsinki-Vantaa offers direct long-haul flights. Finnair services North America, the Middle East, and Asia. Japan Airlines connects to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, while Juneyao Airlines operates flights to Zhengzhou and Shanghai in China.