Finavia to invest €13.5 million in the promotion of tourism in Lapland through the renovation and expansion of Ivalo Airport

Ivalo, Finland, 2014-03-31 — /Travel PR News/ — Finavia invests €13.5 million in the promotion of tourism in Lapland through the renovation and expansion of Ivalo Airport, the northernmost airport in European Union.

The airport’s traffic areas will also be renovated. The investment will be implemented in 2014 and 2015.

The terminal renovation and the traffic area improvement work will make travels smoother, while enabling an increase of traffic volume.

“There will be more space, and bottlenecks will be eliminated”, says Joni Sundelin, SVP & Director of Airport Networks at Finavia.

“Finavia believes in the appeal that tourism in Lapland has. The airport must serve air passengers in a professional, cost-effective way that matches the demand”, Sundelin continues.

Last year, more than 146,000 passengers passed through Ivalo Airport, and the terminal has been cramped, especially during a season. The volume of passengers increased slightly in comparison to the previous year, whereas the passenger volume at most other airports in Finland declined.

Goal: Smoothly from parking lot to departure gate

The renovation will particularly focus on the security check line, the gate area’s waiting facilities, the café and shop area, and the customs and passport control facilities.

The working facilities of airport employees and the employees of companies operating at the airport will also improve as the facilities will be as spacious and modern as possible. The renovation also covers the parking lot: more parking space will be added there.

“We are happy that the Ivalo development project is now in progress, and the airport will become even more functional and effective. We want to pay extra attention to ensuring that passengers can smoothly move from the parking lot all the way to the departure gate”, says Sundelin.

According to the current estimate, the terminal expansion will be completed in spring 2015. An introduction inspection will take place after the renovation project in November 2015.

“We will ensure that travelling is as easy and smooth and possible during the renovation, too. Our goal is to perform the work to cause as few disruptions to passengers and partners as possible”, says Sundelin.

Air traffic areas paved in August

The airport development also involves extensive repairs in the air traffic areas. To maintain air safety, the runway, taxiways and apron level will be repaved during 4–29 August 2014, during which time the airport will be closed.

During the runway renovation, Finavia will provide free bus transport to Kittilä Airport, which has flight connections to Helsinki.

Finavia’s extensive investment programme kicked off in 2014

The goal of Finavia is to retain the infrastructure of its airports in a competitive condition and to retain cost-effective prices regardless of airport development.

“Finland has a comprehensive airport network that provides competitive services to airlines. However, the development of flight connections relies on demand. Therefore, it is important that different areas engage in close co-operation to strengthen the demand and flight connections”, says Sundelin.

“Finavia’s goal is to ensure the airports operate efficiently; but after that, the region’s appealing tourism services and businesses are needed to attract air traffic and tourists”, says Sundelin.

In addition to Ivalo Airport, investments will be launched this year in Tampere, Turku and Rovaniemi. In addition, several airports will implement smaller changes to improve comfort and service selection. This year, about €35 million will be invested in network airports.

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