Who’s flying to Lapland? A look at the data

Flightradar24 Blog · 3 years ago · 125 views

Rovaniemi Airport (RVN/EFRO) in the north of Finland (the Arctic Circle itself crosses the northern end of the runway) is the gateway to Lapland and the historical home of Santa Claus. This makes Rovaniemi the second busiest airport in Finland after Helsinki (HEL/EFHK), mostly thanks to tourist traffic during December. The airport experiences a notable rise in traffic each year from visitors looking to experience the Lapland region and visit Santa. We used our data to take a look at activity at the airport in the first two weeks of December 2023 to see just how busy the airport gets at this time of year.

How many flights does Rovaniemi see?

Examining the first two weeks of June and December 2023, we can see a 41% increase in the total number of movements at Rovaniemi Airport. The first two weeks of June 2023 saw a total of 527 flights, increasing to 741 flights in December. We can also observe an increase in the level of leisure traffic from airlines, proving that December sees a boom of tourist interest in Lapland. Whilst our data shows 270 commercial aircraft movements in June, this increased by 128% to 615 movements in December.

The boom in leisure traffic is also played out when looking at the most popular origins of flights to Rovaniemi. Looking at the top 5, common all-year-round destinations such as Jyvaskyla Airport (JYV) and Tampere Airport (TMP) are replaced by the likes of London Gatwick Airport (LGW), Dublin Airport (DUB) and Manchester Airport (MAN), and flights from the UK and Ireland dominate winter traffic.

Which airlines are flying to Lapland?

Finnair (AY-FIN) are by far the largest operator of flights to and from Rovaniemi Airport, with regular flights to Helsinki all year round. As such, it’s not surprising to see them top the list of operators. Nordic Regional Airlines ‘NORRA’ (FCM) also operate multiple daily flights to Helsinki.

Looking at the more seasonal arrivals seen in December, Ryanair (RYR), Jet2.com (EXS), and EasyJet (EZY) hold a relatively similar share of flights. The largest operator of private jet flights at Rovaniemi is NetJets Europe (NJE).

Ryanair have operated the highest number of flights of all non-Finnish airlines in December 2023.