Passenger numbers reached record levels at Finnish airports operated by Finavia in 2016, with 20,786,846 passengers served, an increase of 3.5% compared with 2015. This included new passenger records at Helsinki Airport with 17.2 million travelers, and Rovaniemi Airport with 490,000 travelers. Of all passengers, 26% took domestic flights and 74% international flights.
The most popular European destinations from Finland were Stockholm, Sweden; London, UK; Copenhagen, Denmark; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Frankfurt, Germany; Munich, Germany; Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; Oslo, Norway; and Riga, Latvia. The top 10 long-distance destinations were Tokyo, Japan; Bangkok, Thailand; Hong Kong, China; Seoul, South Korea; New York, USA; Shanghai, China; Osaka, Japan; Beijing, China; Nagoya, Japan; and Singapore.
Joni Sundelin, senior vice president at Finavia, said, “The demand for air traffic is still growing strong, and we are powerfully involved in this growth, which can be seen in the record-breaking passenger volumes. To us, an important step in strengthening our position was the landing of Qatar Airways in Finland in autumn. The magic of Lapland is also reflected in these figures and, what is more, Chinese passengers are more often selecting Finland as their destination.
“The strongest growth in domestic air travel comes from passengers switching to routes to Lapland from international flights. Furthermore, direct flights from Europe to Lapland raised the attraction and passenger volume of the region to a whole new level.
“At the same time, the busiest airports located in growth centers gained new passengers. This year, domestic travel showed good growth in Oulu and Vaasa. There is high demand for air travel, especially over longer distances, where as the improved competitiveness of other means of travel is often reflected in the passenger volumes of airports over shorter distances,” concluded Sundelin.
Written by Dan Symonds