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Summer holiday air travel off to a record-breaking start

Press release
Article published
15.6.2026 at 14:15
Lentokone lentämässä taivaalla.
Travel
The summer holiday season has begun at a record pace: a yearly passenger record has been broken at Helsinki Airport. Based on passenger data, the global fuel situation has not affected travelers’ willingness to fly from Helsinki during the summer holiday period; the coming weeks are expected to remain busy.

A genuine travel spike was seen at Helsinki Airport in early June. The first week of the summer holidays (1–7 June 2026) became the busiest of the year, with approximately 378,000 passengers passing through the airport. This is the second highest weekly passenger volume since the COVID-19 period.

Week 24 (8–14 June 2026) ranked as the second busiest travel week of the year, particularly in terms of departing passengers.

“At airports, we are now experiencing the most popular travel season of the year, while at the same time breaking previous records. Helsinki Airport is recognised as the best airport in Europe, particularly thanks to the customer experience it offers. Passengers have given positive feedback especially on the smoothness of travel and the airport’s wide range of restaurant and café options,” says Laura Inttilä, Senior Vice President of Helsinki Airport at Finavia.

Stable situation in Finnish aviation

“Finland offers very comprehensive direct flight connections to destinations across Europe, as well as new direct scheduled services to long-haul destinations. During the late summer and autumn, new and exciting connections will also open, including to Dubai and Melbourne in Australia,” says Petri Vuori, Finavia’s Senior Vice President, Route Development.

Air traffic has started normally for the summer season, and operational reliability has remained strong. According to fuel suppliers, the availability of kerosene in Finland is stable, as it is in most parts of the world.

“Despite global uncertainty, travel has remained busy, and the global situation has not been reflected in passenger volumes during the summer holiday season in Finland. Airlines operating in Finland have reported that fuel availability challenges are not affecting summer travel from Finland,” Vuori adds.

Airlines and airport operators have prepared well for the high passenger volumes of the summer, and air traffic in Finland is operating normally. The summer travel season is expected to remain busy in the coming weeks.

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