Christmas season charter flights boosted air travel to
Lapland, with international charters bringing in a total
of 180,000 travellers to northern Finnish airports during
November and December. A year before, the number was 150,000.
The number of charter flights for the same period rose from
470 to 530.
“The number of passengers grew by almost 20 per cent,
which was more than we expected,” said Rovaniemi Airport
manager and Northern Finland regional manager Martti Oinas.
Larger aircraft meant that the number of passengers also
increased,” he added. Rovaniemi saw the highest number
of Christmas season flights, with 246 aircraft bringing
in 82,500 passengers. The second busiest traffic was at
Kittilä with 159 flights bringing in 57,000 passengers.
Enontekiö received 43 aircraft, Kemi-Tornio 7, Kuusamo
13 and Kajaani 9. The relatively highest increases in passenger
volumes occurred at Rovaniemi and Ivalo, where the number
of flights rose to 61 from 50 the year before.
By far the largest group to visit Lapland were the British,
but there were also French, Dutch, Hungarian and Greek visitors.
At New Year, Russians traditionally make up the largest
number of tourists.
Welcome
to Lapland at any time of year
The Lapland Christmas season lasts about a month, when
the busiest days see an aircraft landing at its airports
every 10 to 15 minutes, in addition to the normal scheduled
flights. During the peak periods, parking aircraft seamlessly
and conducting thousands of passengers through terminals
designed for small numbers pose an annual challenge for
the airports.
“For all this to work we have to have seamless
to-the-minute teamwork between the airport’s staff,
the airlines, the Border Guard service, Finnish Customs,
the tour organisers, the safari and handling companies
and others. Terminal services, air traffic controllers
and airport maintenance teams need to be especially flexible
in order to get the aeroplanes to land and take off on
time,” says Mr Oinas.
Lapland’s airports need extra labour during the
Christmas rush, to help with terminal duties and such
things as passport control and the commercial services.
“Most tourists only spend one day at their destination,
so good service becomes very important.”
Outside the Christmas season, northern airport facilities
are mostly under-used. Although the terminals have to
be able to cater for large groups they can’t be
expanded just for the Christmas crowds. It would be ideal,
though, if airport charter capacity could operate at optimal
levels, which is why it would be desirable to increase
tourism all year round.
“We are particularly looking for growth from international
traffic. Lapland has improved its expertise in tourism
enormously, and more foreign travel agencies have joined
in. In conjunction with the tour operators we should aim
at making Lapland more attractive
at other times of the year than just Christmas,”
Mr Oinas believes.
