The state granted half a million euros to maintain Mikkeli airport. Thanks to it, new activities can be developed in the field while waiting for electric aircraft to enter the market.
In its supplementary budget, the government granted a total of one million euros for the development of tourism in Mikkeli and Lappeenranta. In practice, the money is intended for maintaining airports.
Maintaining the field costs 350,000 euros per year. The money goes to, among other things, having staff on site and plowing the field in winter.
Negotiations with three different actors
The city already has clear plans for the development of the airport. According to Timo Paak, they are currently negotiating with three different operators. Companies develop electronic flying and drone technology.
– South Savo has the quietest airspace in Europe. You can test things here, which could be very difficult to organize in Central Europe, for example. They are related to drone flying, Paakki says.
Paakki also sees a future where, thanks to electrification, it is cost-effective to fly with smaller planes than before. This makes the air transport of even small quantities of goods profitable.
– In a country the size and shape of Finland, logistics chains will certainly be transferred to be flown by different methods. Mikkeli’s location is logistically central, so it is good that the field is preserved.
Freight traffic is developing faster than passenger traffic
Mikkeli field is an international airport with customs, so you can fly there from anywhere in the world. According to Timo Paak, things will start happening at the airport as early as next year.
– Many talk about the fact that there should be passenger traffic on the field in order for the field to be profitable. There is only one profitable airport in Finland, Helsinki-Vantaa. That is why I would like to challenge this idea. I think that a profitable business in a few years will be something completely different than passenger transport.
On the other hand, the development company states in its own report that in the future Mikkeli Airport could be flown from, for example, Stockholm or Frankfurt. Flights between Mikkeli and Helsinki, on the other hand, do not make sense, because the capital can be reached by train and car.
Paakki believes that the new technologies of flying will be seen in passenger transport in five to six years.
– Freight traffic will move forward faster than passenger traffic.