Finnair schedules more flights to Finnmark

The Finnish flag carrier will increase its Helsinki-Ivalo-Kirkenes route to five-times-weekly in summer 2026 and add Alta as a new Finnmark destination with five weekly flights from Helsinki via Kittilä.

Midnight sun, cod fishing and king crab safari are on the list of highlights as Finnair starts selling tickets to Alta, the largest town in Norway’s Finnmark region.

The airline will serve Alta five times a week from 29 March to 22 October 2026 with a 68-seater ATR propeller. The route from Helsinki flies via Kittlä, a ski resort in Lapland that aims to boost summer season tourism.

“Northern destinations increasingly attract travellers seeking authentic nature experiences also in the summer. Our network, extending through Lapland to Northern Norway, offers our customers a convenient way to experience several Nordic destinations within one trip, and you can also combine the trip with, for example, a cruise in the Norwegian coast,” says Perttu Jolma, Finnair’s Vice President, Network.

This April, Finnair reopens the route to Kirkenes, a destination the airliner has not served since 1975. From summer 2026, the route from Helsinki via Ivalo to Norway’s northeast corner increases to five weekly frequencies, two more than this summer season.

The Kirkenes connection will likely also attract Russians living in Finland, as the Norwegian airport is served with daily mini-bus connections to the airport in Murmansk. After Finland last year closed its eastern border, the Kirkenes-Murmansk corridor is today the only open route north of Narva in Estonia.

In addition to Kirkenes and Alta, Finnair operates routes to Tromsø from both Rovaniemi and Helsinki. Bodø will next summer get six weekly flights from Helsinki.

Finland’s capital is a hub for incoming tourists from both Asia and North America and will with the added flights and destinations become a strong competitor to Norwegian and SAS as a transit airport to northern Norway.

Iceland: Iceland moving ahead on better ways to manage tourism & safeguard protected areas, Eye on the Arctic

Sweden: Reindeer herding affected by increased tourism in Swedish mountains, Radio Sweden