The capital of Lapland in the north of Finland, Rovaniemi, is most famous for being the Official Home of Santa Claus, as the city's slogan goes. Located inside the Arctic Circle, about 433 miles (697km) due north of Helsinki, Rovaniemi attracts lots of tourists for Christmas and winter fun.

Four airlines add Rovaniemi flights

The Finnish gateway has welcomed KLM from Amsterdam (December 3rd) and the return of Air France from Paris CDG (November 27th). It comes as Ryanair commenced its first flights to Rovaniemi from Dublin (October 30th), London Stansted (October 30th), and Brussels Charleroi (October 31st). easyJet launched Bristol (November 18th), and Neos introduced Milan Malpensa (December 2nd).

Sanna Kärkkäinen, Managing Director of Visit Rovaniemi, said, "Winter tourism of Rovaniemi and Lapland is recovering rapidly as demand grows and exceeds the pre-pandemic level."

According to OAG data, international departing seats total 180,000 this winter, up by 120% over winter 2019. The arrival of Ryanair, with up to 9 weekly flights, has been vital in increasing capacity.

Click here for London-Rovaniemi flights.

Air France Rovaniemi
Photo: Visit Rovaniemi.

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Rovaniemi welcomes KLM

On December 3rd, KLM commenced the 1,222-mile (1,967km) route between Amsterdam and Rovaniemi. With a Saturday-only service, and Tuesday too at times, it has just 20 departing flights this winter. KL1213 leaves Schiphol at 12:25 and arrives in Finland at 16:20 local, while KL1214 departs at 17:10 and arrives home at 19:15. It'll end for winter on March 25th.

It isn't the first time that Amsterdam-Rovaniemi has had nonstop flights. According to OAG, Finnair operated in 2007, followed by Transavia during the winter from 2008-2010, then again in 2013.

Analyzing two-way connectivity for this week shows that more than 25 cities connect to/from KLM's Rovaniemi route over Amsterdam with a less than four-hour wait and flying no more than 50% of your way, including many served by KLM Cityhopper. Of course, KLM normally has only one 176-seat 737-800 to fill a week; it'll be easy with point-to-point demand alone.

Rovaniemi is the fourth Finland city with nonstop Amsterdam flights this winter. It joins Helsinki (KLM, up to 3 daily; Finnair, 2 daily), Kittilä (TUI; 4 weekly), and Tampere (airBaltic; up to 1 daily).

Click here for Amsterdam-Rovaniemi flights.

KLM Rovaniemi launch3
Photo: KLM.

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Air France returns

Paris is again connected to Rovaniemi. It's thanks to Air France, which, having served it between December 2021-March 2022, is no stranger to the route. It was relaunched on November 27th, and will end on March 19th.

This December, Air France has more Rovaniemi seats for sale than ever before. There's a 3-weekly service through the season, rising to 1 daily during the peak, from December 17th to January 2nd.

AF1524 departs CDG at 10:05 and arrives in Finland at 14:40 local. Returning, AF1525 leaves at 15:40 and arrives home at 18:25. While Air France has very little head-to-head competition, ASL has 5 roundtrip flights in December.

Click here for Paris-Rovaniemi flights.

Have you ever visited Rovaniemi? If so, share your experiences in the comments.

  • KLM Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner PH-BHP (2)
    KLM
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    KL/KLM
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
    Year Founded:
    1919
    Alliance:
    SkyTeam
    Airline Group:
    Air France-KLM
    CEO:
    Marjan Rintel
    Country:
    Netherlands
  • Air France, Airbus, A220-500
    Air France
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    AF/AFR
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport
    Year Founded:
    1933
    Alliance:
    SkyTeam
    Airline Group:
    Air France-KLM
    CEO:
    Anne Rigail
    Country:
    France