VAASA VOTED AIRPORT OF THE YEAR

The CAA chose Vaasa as its Airport of the Year for 2005. The selection was based on a number of factors such as the financial development of the airports, customer satisfaction and job satisfaction surveys. The criteria are formulated so that every airport has an equal chance of being selected.

Vaasa Airport is delighted with the choice, since it shows that good work is noticed right down the line. Airport Manager Tapani Krooks believes the success of the airport echoes that of the local area.

“We have a common venture with the local economic region in the form of the ongoing Airport Park project, which involves building office space for companies interested in the area. The primary role of the airport in this project, which is based on a regional plan made in 2001, is to provide its own special area of expertise, namely seamless transport connections.”

Every year 300 000 passengers pass through Vaasa Airport on their way to Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen. A new record for international passengers was reached in October 2005, when it catered for more than 13 000. “But we are still emphasising passenger comfort,” vowed Mr Krooks.

The Airport of the Year prize has now been awarded 15 times and this was the third time that the CAA has made the award on the basis of its own, more extensive, assessment of the airports. The award for the 2004 Airport of the Year went to Kuopio Airport.