Traffic up in Helsinki and bouncing back across Finland’s airports

A total 15.3 million passengers passed through Helsinki Airport last year – nearly 20% up on 2022.

The total accounted for 84% of all passengers handled at Finland’s airports in 2022, with 88% of travellers at the gateway boarding an international flight.

Transfer passengers catching connecting flights made up 27% of all international passengers, around two million in total, which although more than 2022 is still down on the 3.6 million handled in 2019.

Finavia notes that the recovery was affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent closure of the Russian airspace, which have had an impact on flights between Asia and Europe.

Talking about last year’s performance across all of the country’s airports, Finavia’s senior vice president responsible for route development, Petri Vuori, said: “We actively seek to strengthen flight connections in co-operation with airlines and tourism organisations in order to improve the accessibility of Finland.

“In 2023, there were about 130 direct routes from Finland to destinations around the world. Last year, the number of passengers increased especially on European flights, but there has also been growth on long-haul flights to North America and Asia.

Across the Finavia network

The 18.3 million passengers handled across Finavia’s Finnish airports in 2023  airports amounted to a 19% increase on 2022.

Finavia’s Lapland airports enjoyed a particularly good year, accommodating some 547,773 passengers (+18%) across Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Ivalo, Kuusamo and Kemi-Tornio airports during the tourist season of November–December 2023.

Some 281,701 passengers (+29%) flew via Rovaniemi Airport alone, while 131,145 passengers (+12%) travelled via Kittilä Airport.

In 2023, a total of 1.5 million passengers (+20%) flew via Lapland airports. In 2022, the number of passengers was 1.2 million.

“In total, about half of the flights to Lapland are regular scheduled flights,” noted Vuori. “During this winter season, up to 20 direct routes connected Lapland to Europe.

“Regular scheduled flights are very important for the attractiveness of the region and serve not only local residents but also the business community. The extensive onward connections offered by the routes attract passengers from a wider area.”

A total of three million passengers (+18%) travelled via Finavia’s regional airports last year. In 2022, that figure was 2.5 million.