"The new route openings at Finavia airports during the summer season focus on connections to the major cities in Europe. In the summer, people fly from Finland especially to tourist destinations around the Mediterranean. At Finavia, we are developing Finland's air connectivity and routes in cooperation with airlines and tourism industry operators," says Petri Vuori, Finavia's Senior Vice President responsible for route development.
There is also international interest in summer in Finnish Lapland. The historic year-round routes will continue at Rovaniemi and Kittilä airports from the winter season to the summer season: Discover Airlines will continue flying from Frankfurt, Germany, and Edelweiss Air from Zurich, Switzerland, to Kittilä Airport, and Ryanair will continue operating flights from Milan, Italy, to Rovaniemi Airport. Finnair will also open a new route from Ivalo Airport to Kirkenes in Northern Norway.
"The common goal of Finnish tourism operators is to increase international tourism to Finnish Lapland during the summer season, where we see many opportunities. We are pleased that the year-round routes now also bring tourists from Central Europe to summery Lapland," Vuori says.
During the summer season, flights are operated from Helsinki Airport to 102 international airports. For the first time in the airline's history, Norwegian will start flying from Helsinki Airport to Malta and to Bucharest, Romania. Finnair, on the other hand, is increasing the number of weekly flights on many of its routes to the United States, Japan and China.
During the summer season, there will be direct scheduled flights from network airports to a total of 14 European airports. At the start of the season, the opening of a new route with scheduled flights from Copenhagen, Denmark will be celebrated at Turku Airport when Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) starts operating direct flights between the cities. A direct route to Copenhagen will provide access to a wide range of connecting flights across Europe for those in the Turku region.
International air traffic follows a seasonal schedule, where the winter and summer seasons determine the availability of routes. The summer season started on 30 March and ends on 25 October. Airlines decide on their routes independently, and new routes can also be opened during the season. In addition, flight schedules and routes may change during the season.
