Rovaniemi Airport
RIMINI, Italy—Finavia is seeking to capitalize on demand for Arctic tourism and renewed Asian connectivity as Finland’s airport operator records growth across both Helsinki Airport (HEL) and its Lapland gateways.
Finland's airport operator says traffic growth remained strong during the first quarter of 2026, helped by expanding long-haul connectivity and another record winter season for Lapland.
“The winter [2025-26] season was once again a huge success for Finnish Lapland,” says Petri Vuori, Finavia's senior vice president for route development, in an interview with Aviation Week, highlighting that Rovaniemi Airport surpassed one million annual passengers for the first time in its history.
Growth across northern Finland is expected to continue into the next winter season. AirBaltic has announced five new routes to Kuusamo, while Lufthansa Group airlines are adding services to Ivalo, Kuusamo and Rovaniemi.
The Lapland boom has become one of Finavia’s key growth drivers as international travelers increasingly seek winter tourism experiences centered around snow activities, Northern Lights tourism and low-density destinations.
At the same time, HEL is rebuilding long-haul connectivity to Asia following several years of disruption caused by the closure of Russian airspace.
One of the airport’s most significant recent gains has been the launch of China Southern Airlines’ Beijing Daxing-Helsinki route, which began in March with 3X-weekly Boeing 787-9 flights and is expected to increase to daily service by late June. The route marks China Southern’s first operation to Finland and is currently the only nonstop service between Beijing and the Nordic region.
“We have seen increased demand on all Asian flights since March,” Vuori says, following disruption to one-stop schedules via the Middle East due to the war in Iran. Japan Airlines and Juneyao Air are also increasing frequencies to Helsinki.
More News And Analysis From Routes Europe 2026
Emirates is also set to strengthen Helsinki’s long-haul network by launching daily year-round Dubai service from October, while Finnair has resumed Toronto flights and plans to open a new Helsinki-Bangkok-Melbourne route later this year using Airbus A350 aircraft.
Passenger growth across Finavia’s network accelerated during the first quarter of 2026. Total passenger numbers rose 7.8% year-on-year to 5.3 million, while international traffic increased 8% to 4 million passengers. HEL handled 3.9 million passengers during the period, up 6.6%.
The strongest regional performance came from Lapland airports, where passenger traffic climbed 12% to almost one million travelers during the January-March period.
Despite this, the continued closure of Russian airspace remains a structural challenge for HEL, which historically relied heavily on its geographic advantage connecting Europe and Asia.
“There will be a lot of discussions ahead on the geopolitical situation, as well as fuel price and availability,” Vuori says.
Even so, Finavia believes demand fundamentals remain favorable, particularly for leisure travel. “Demand for leisure travel is expected to continue growing, with increasing interest in distinctive destinations such as Finland, offering clean air, unspoilt landscapes and a calm, low density tourism environment,” Vuori adds.
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