Regional Director stresses the importance of Savonlinna Airport – Central Europe agreement brings a boost

A small airplane at Savonlinna's snowy airport in the morning twilight. — Last year, Savonlinna Airport recorded about 700 flights, 42 of which were international.

Savonlinna Airport was used by more than 7 000 passengers last year.

In mid-January, Finavia, the state-owned airline that bills flights from Savonlinna airport, published a report suggesting that the state should cut back its airport network. Most of the regional flights are loss-making for Finavia.

Savonlinna Airport’s scheduled flights also receive funding from the city.

Finavia considers it possible that airports that are removed from the airport network could also be sold if municipalities do not take ownership of them. Mr Mäkinen does not believe that this would be possible in the case of Savonlinna.

– I doubt that the companies in the region would have the financial conditions for subsidies in the million range. I see that securing the accessibility of transport connections, including air connections, is the task of society.

If Savonlinna loses state support, Mäkinen believes that it will only increase the desiccation of eastern Finland. It would also have effects from the point of view of security of supply and defense.

South Savo regional director Pentti Mäkinen in his office. On display is a new map of Etelä-Savo, which no longer has Joroi or Heinävet. — Pentti Mäkinen, Regional Director of South Savo, sees the maintenance of the current airport network as beneficial to the business community, especially in eastern Finland.

Support for the airport network is being negotiated in the government’s spring budget rush.

Passenger numbers on the rise

The number of passengers at Savonlinna Airport increased significantly in 2024 from the previous year. The reading was still a long way from the times before the corona.

According to Finavia’s statistics, a total of 7,113 passengers used Savonlinna Airport. 1,755 of them were international passengers.

In 2023, there were approximately three thousand passengers, so the number increased by 130 percent.

We are still a long way from pre-corona readings. In 2019, the number of passengers exceeded ten thousand for the last time. The lack of Russian tourists largely explains the decline.

Next summer, Savonlinna’s international tourism will get a boost. The city has signed a new cooperation agreement with Voigt Travel, the largest tour operator in the Netherlands. The agreement brings a total of nine charter flights directly from Rotterdam to Savonlinna this summer.

Savonlinna is planning additional flights from Central Europe for the winter as well. In the fall, the city agreed on charter flights with the German tour operator Zonista GmbH.