Rovaniemi Airport

Rovaniemi International Airport
Characteristics
ICAO code	EFRO
IATA code	RVN
Coordinates	66 ° 33 '56 "  N , 25 ° 49' 49"  E Coordinates: 66 ° 33 '56 "  N , 25 ° 49' 49"  E
Height above MSL	197 m (646  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	10 km northeast of Rovaniemi
Local transport	Public bus
Basic data
opening	1940
operator	Finavia
surface	430 ha
Terminals	2
Passengers	661,124 (2019)
Start-and runway
03/21	3000 m × 60 m asphalt

The Rovaniemi Airport is an airport in Finnish Lapland .

history

It is located around ten kilometers northeast of the center of the provincial capital Rovaniemi . The Arctic Circle runs right through the airport grounds, so that every aircraft passes it during take-off and landing; its exact route through the passenger terminal is marked by a line on the floor.

The airport was put into operation in 1940 and initially by Aero O / Y, the predecessor company of today's Finnair , as one of the stations on the "Petsamo Express Route" ( Petsamonpikalinja ) Helsinki - Tampere - Vaasa - Kokkola - Oulu - Kemi - Rovaniemi - Sodankylä - Petsamo flown to with Junkers Ju-52 .

In the continuation war against the Soviet Union in 1941, units of the German Air Force were located here , for example IV./Lehrgeschwader 1 with their Junkers Ju 87s . To this end, the airport was expanded considerably; in the meantime it had four runways and several dozen hangars. When the Wehrmacht withdrew during the Lapland War , like the entire city of Rovaniemi, its airport fell victim to the scorched earth policy and was completely destroyed.

Reconstruction began in 1948, and the new airport building was inaugurated in 1953. With the reconstruction of the city of Rovaniemi and the relocation of air traffic control in northern Finland from Kemi to Rovaniemi Airport, the airport quickly gained in importance. In 1980 the Finnish Air Force's Lapland Aviation Command ( Lapin lennosto ) was relocated from Tikkakoski to Rovaniemi, and a separate military complex was built on the side of the runway opposite the passenger terminal; the runway was also extended from 2500 to 3000 m. A flight squadron of the Finnish border guards is also stationed here.

Military airfield section

In the northern part of the airport, the Finnish Air Force (Ilmavoimat) has built shelters, stand areas and storage rooms. The Lapland Command is also located there. There are three squadrons (Lentolaivue 1 and Lentolaivue 2 with F / A-18 Hornet and Lentolaivue 4 with liaison aircraft). To the northwest, behind a hill, two ramps are hidden as entrances and exits to an underground aircraft cavern .

Line bus traffic

Finnair and Norwegian Air Shuttle currently serve Rovaniemi several times a day from Helsinki. The Russian airline AVL-Arkhangelsk Air also operates the Archangelsk - Murmansk - Rovaniemi - Luleå route twice a week for Aeroflot with Antonow An-24RV propellers . The traffic volume increases considerably in the winter months, partly thanks to the ski season and partly because of the “Santa Claus tourism” in December. At this time, numerous charter flights from abroad brought families to Lapland to audiences with Santa Claus , who actually lives on Mount Korvatunturi on the Russian border, but has mostly been there since the opening of an adventure park closer to Rovaniemi. In the 1990s, a British Airways Concorde regularly flew from London to Rovaniemi on Christmas Eve to enable the children of wealthy parents to visit Santa Claus .

Web links

Commons : Rovaniemi Airport  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Information about the airport on the website of the airport company
• Airport data on World Aero Data ( 2006 )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Finavia Annual Review 2019. Accessed May 24, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Virtual Finnair: Lentoasemaesittelyssä: Rovaniemi