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Flying in the world’s Arctic tourists

Finnish Lapland prepares for a further increase in Arctic tourism.

As Arctic tourism reaches new heights, the northernmost airports in Finland get a multi-million euro facelift.

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Finnish state aviation company Finavia is brushing up its Ivalo Airport, the northernmost airport in the country, for €13 million, making it able to take yet a bigger bite of the growing Arctic tourism pie.

“We believe in the appeal that tourism in Lapland has”, company representative Joni Sundelin underlines in a press release. “The airport must serve air passengers in a professional, cost-effective way that matches the demand, he adds.

The Ivalo airport in 2013 handled a total of 146,000 passengers, a 15 percent increase from 2012. Also the biggest airport in Finnish Lapland, the one in Rovaniemi, is on the investment program of Finavia. The Rovaniemi airport in 2012 handled almost 397,000 passengers, figures from Patchwork Barents show.

According to Finavia, the upgrades of the Ivalo airport will include the security check line, the gate area’s waiting facilities, the café and shop area, and the customs and passport control facilities. The renovation is to be completed by spring 2015.

The airport development in northern Finland comes as the interest in the region’s tourist potential reaches new heights. In 2012, a total of 3,83 million overnight stays were registered by regional hotels, an increase of more than half a million in only two years.

As figures from Patchwork Barents show, the Finnish Lapland is by far the most popular tourism destination in the Barents Region. Number two on the list is the Swedish region of Norrbotten with 2,13 million overnight stays in 2012. The most popular Norwegian tourist region is Nordland with 890,000 in 2012.