Finland will fully fund loss-making regional flights, including Kemi-Tornio in North
The Finnish government will cover the entire cost of providing flights between Helsinki and five regional airports, Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne (Finns) has announced.
The announcement suggests a government u-turn on the issue, as Minister Ranne said last month — following the conclusion of budget talks — that the regional municipalities would have to shoulder at least some of the burden of paying for the flights.
The loss-making and environmentally-damaging routes have been widely criticised, with Finland’s airport operator Finavia calling on the government earlier this year to stop subsidising them.
Finavia’s statement came in the wake of an Yle investigation which revealed that a return flight from Helsinki to Kemi costs the Finnish state 8,586 euros, as ticket sales are not enough to make the flights profitable.
In a post on social media platform X, Ranne wrote that the decision was made in the interests of regional vitality.
The Finnish state has subsided flights to the five regional airports — Kokkola-Pietarsaari, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kajaani and Kemi-Tornio — since 2021, and signed an agreement with national carrier Finnair last year to continue operating them until March 2026.
The objective behind providing state funding for the flights was that the routes would return to profitability in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic and support would no longer be required.
However, this has not happened. An Yle analysis found that all five routes are run at a significant loss, running into millions of euros each.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Labrador left behind, Nunatsiavut leader says — calls for Quebec-like air subsidy, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Rovaniemi airport in Arctic Finland to get major expansion as passenger numbers surge, Yle News
Norway: Arctic Norway’s Tromsø Airport struggles as international arrivals triple, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Northern Scandinavia to pioneer commercial flights with electric planes, Radio Sweden
