Finnair and Norwegian will open the highest number of new routes, and there will also be completely new airlines at Helsinki Airport.
“The first summer routes will already open up in March, and new routes will be introduced frequently until June,” says Petri Vuori, vice president of sales and route development at Finavia, the Finnish airport operator.
In terms of route development, the most recent successes were achieved in the Balkans, with as many as four new flight connections being opened to Helsinki from Zagreb, Pristina, Bucharest and Varna. Finavia is currently negotiating with several airlines over opening up new routes to Finland.
“We are constantly looking for new routes and airlines, both in the east and in the west,” Vuori says.
Fastest route goes via HEL
Helsinki Airport offers the fastest route between Europe and Asia. The strength lies in its excellent geographical location between Europe and Asia as well as in smooth and easy transfers. Due to the route openings in 2017, HEL will be connecting these two continents even better.
In addition, Finland has attracted more and more people as a safe and exotic destination. The fact, combined with the role of Helsinki Airport as an important transit airport, means that air traffic in Finland may increase more rapidly than on average in Europe.
“We are working hard to improve connectivity and to improve travel in Finland. We are also working in closer marketing cooperation with other parties, such as Visit Finland, and local travel organisations. The results of our hard work can be seen, for example, in Lapland where we received eight direct international flight connections in winter,” says Joni Sundelin, senior vice president in charge of sales and marketing at Finavia.
Finavia's airports have a sufficient capacity for future growth in air traffic, and they are first-class facilities according to international surveys. In addition, the ongoing expansions at Helsinki Airport aim to prepare for new record-breaking passenger volumes.
“Finavia helps airlines to open up new routes by offering competitive prices, among other things. For example, Helsinki Airport is one of the most affordable and punctual airports in Europe,” Vuori says.
New Finnair routes from Helsinki Airport
Alicante, Spain, starting from 26 March. Flights four times a week during the summer season.
Reykjavik, Iceland, starting from 11 April. Flights four times a week around the year.
Ibiza, Spain, starting from 7 May. Flights once a week during the summer season.
Menorca, Spain, starting from 8 May. Flights once a week during the summer season.
Corfu, Greece, starting from 9 May. Flights once a week during the summer season.
San Francisco, USA, starting from 1 June. Flights three times a week during the summer season.
Astana, Kazakhstan, starting from 18 June. Flights twice a week during the summer season.
Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic, starting from 23 November. Flights once a week during the winter season.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, starting from 19 November. Flights once a week during the winter season.
Goa, India, starting from 29 November. Flights twice a week during the winter season.
Havana, Cuba, starting from 1 December. Flights twice a week during the winter season.
Finnair will also increase the number of flights from Helsinki Airport to Tokyo by offering four new flights a week and to Hong Kong by offering three new flights a week.
New Norwegian routes from Helsinki Airport
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, starting from 20 April. Flights twice a week around the year.
Pristina, Kosovo, starting from 22 June. Flights once a week during the summer season.
Varna, Bulgaria, starting from 1 July. Flights once a week during the summer season.
Norwegian will offer more flights: 13 weekly flights between Helsinki and Oslo, as well as between Helsinki and Copenhagen.
New airlines at Helsinki Airport
Transavia will start flying to Amsterdam on 3 April. Flights four times a week around the year.
Croatia Airlines will start flying to Zagreb, Croatia, on 23 May. Flights three times a week during the summer season.
Blue Air will start flying to Bucharest, Romania, on 16 June. Flights three times a week around the year.
Royal Wings started flying to Aqaba, Jordan, in February.
New routes from Finavia’s regional airports in 2017
Tampere–Riga by Air Baltic, starting from 26 March. Flights six times a week around the year.
Kittilä–Frankfurt by Finnair, starting from 12 December. Flights once a week during the winter season.
Kittilä–Paris by Finnair, starting from 12 December. Flights once a week during the winter season.
Ivalo–London by Finnair, starting from 14 December. Flights twice a week during the winter season.
Kittilä–Zurich by Finnair, starting from 16 December. Flights once a week during the winter season.
Rovaniemi–Berlin by Germania, starting from 29 January. Flights twice a week during the winter season.
Tampere–Kittilä by Finnair, starting from 4 February. Flights once a week during the winter season.
Turku–Kittilä by Finnair, starting from 4 February. Flights once a week during the winter season.
In addition, SAS will offer more flights between Vaasa and Stockholm at the end of March.
The connection between Helsinki and Pori will reopen in April.
Voigt Travel from the Netherlands will start flying from Amsterdam to Rovaniemi in June.
