Chinese passengers grow by 7.5% at Helsinki Airport

The number of Chinese travellers grew by 7.5 per cent at Helsinki Airport in 2016 and many of the passengers transferred to the regional airports in the country, particularly in Lapland, said sources at Finavia, the company which operates the country’s airports.

The number of passengers travelling through Rovaniemi Airport hit a record high in 2016. A total of 487,857 passengers travelled through Rovaniemi Airport last year.

The number is 2 percentage points higher than the number of passengers handled by the airport in 2015, in which, according to Finavia, a total of 478,347 passengers travelled through it.

Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland and the official hometown of Santa Claus, is an urban oasis in the midst of Arctic wilderness where culture, wild activities and fairytales come together.

A huge increase in the inflow of international tourists, introduction of new direct international flights and a rise in domestic passengers are the main reasons behind the increased passenger volume at the airport, the sources said.

“Direct flights from Europe to Lapland certainly increased the number of passengers and a new passenger record was achieved at the Lapland airports,” said Finavia Communications Manager Annika Kåla said. In addition, the amount of passengers in domestic flights grew by 3.3 per cent, she added.

Kåla said the number of Chinese travellers grew by 7.5 per cent at Helsinki Airport and the strongest growth comes from Helsinki Airport’s international passengers who transfer for Lapland airports.

Earlier, a number of airlines launched direct flights to Rovaniemi from different cities in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, on the wake of the increase in international tourists to Rovaniemi.

Finavia has in recent years invested heavily in tourism in Lapland, including 35 million euros invested in Lapland airports in 2014-2016.

In addition, Finavia has substantially increased its Lapland marketing efforts in conjunction with other operators.

As a part of the Finavia investment, Rovaniemi Airport went through massive renovations in 2016 at a cost of 13 million euros.

The runway, the taxiways and the apron of this third busiest airport of the country were resurfaced to ensure safe air traffic. The runway’s lighting system was also replaced and the rainwater sewerage repaired.

The taxiways at the ends of the runway were improved to be more suitable for wide-bodied aircrafts. Finavia also updated the airport’s passenger experience by increasing its service level, comfort, and effectiveness.

Rovaniemi Airport was named as the Airport of the Year for 2015 by Finavia. The airport is located about 10 kilometres north of Rovaniemi city centre and the Arctic Circle crosses the runway close to its northern end.