4 YLLÄS TIMES


NEWS FROM YLLÄS 2017


International fl ights to Lapland airports on the rise


Airports in Finnish Lapland will be busy this winter, which is expected to be the busiest season since 2007. In all, 500 regular and charter fl ights are fl ying to Lapland in December. The busiest airports are Kittilä and Rovaniemi.


Over 200 entries for Ylläs Reindeer Cup race


Lapland’s quickest reindeer will be sizing each other up at this year’s Ylläs Reindeer Cup 2017 races on 11–12 March. Held on the frozen lake Äkäslompolo next to Jounin


Kauppa (Jouni’s Shop), this race is one of fi ve events in the Reindeer Cup series. T e racing season starts in February and culminates in the


Reindeer Championship races held at Inari in early April. T is is where you’ll see who are the season’s best ‘mushers’ and fastest reindeer. T e 24 best ‘hot group’ competitors with the most Cup points will go through to the grand fi nal.


Two racing classes Not every reindeer gets a chance to compete, as all entrants are ranked in qualifying heats before the racing starts. To enter the open race class, each reindeer must fi rst post


a qualifying time of 1.25 minutes or less in an individual 1 km time trial. T ose that clock 1.19 minutes or less over the same distance can then join the fastest reindeer around in the elite ‘hot group’.


Excitement grows for the fi nal race T e Äkäslompolo race is organized by the Äkäslompolo village committee, together with the Muonio reindeer as- sociation and the Ylitornio reindeer racing club. “We aim to build up excitement for the fi nal, so preli-


minary knockout heats will be held on Saturday and the fi nals on Sunday. As yet, we don’t know the exact number of reindeer and drivers taking part, but I’m hoping that about 200 racing reindeer will show up,” explains Markus Kiili, Äkäslompolo village committee chairman. “Visitors to Ylläs now have a unique chance to see and


experience reindeer races, which were last held here two years ago. We expect around 2000 spectators in all over the weekend.” Ticket prices have not been confi rmed yet, but should be


around 10 euros each. T ere will be a market next to the racing track where you can buy lassos, clothing and other reindeer-themed items.


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,se Santa Claus also fl ew on Lufthansa’s inaugural fl ight from Munich to Kittilä.


“T is is the most enjoyable in- augural fl ight that I’ve ever been on,” a Luſt hansa representative was heard to say while going to the special Christmas coff ee and cake tables in the arrivals lounge at Kittilä airport. Luſt hansa’s fi rst regular direct


fl ight from Munich to Kittilä had just landed. Well more or less. It must be


over half an hour since landing, but passengers are still waiting to take selfi es together with Santa Claus, himself a passenger, on the apron next to the plane.


Snow cover guaranteed


Many charters fl y to Kittilä and three special Luſt hansa charters will land within a few minutes – one from Paris, another from London and the third is a private jet.


T ere’s room for scheduled


fl ights as well, as independent travel is growing. “T ey are our target group,”


says Luſt hansa Group’s Finland and Baltic area manager Paulo Yoshikawa. For Luſt hansa’s passengers to


Kittilä, winter activities are a common interest. “T is is an Eldorado for winter


sports’ enthusiasts,” Yoshikawa smiles.


From Germany, Switzerland, the UK…


It’s been a year now since Luſt hansa’s fi rst direct fl ight to Kittilä. As a result, other airlines have started to off er more scheduled fl ights. For this winter season, Luſt -


hansa is doubling the number of fl ights on its München–Kittilä route, and will open a new Frank- furt–Ivalo route.


15 Germania off ers three winter


season routes to Lapland from Germany and Switzerland: Ber- lin–Rovaniemi, Düsseldorf–Kit- tilä and Zürich–Rovaniemi. Monarch is fl ying this winter


to Kittilä from Manchester and London, and Norwegian from London to Rovaniemi. Alibaba, the world’s largest


Internet trading company, also plans to fl y 50,000 Chinese tourists to Finnish Lapland in 2017, of which 3 000 will visit the area during the winter. As well as direct internatio-


nal fl ights, more visitors fl ew to Lapland by transfer fl ights from Helsinki–Vantaa airport. T e Finnish national carrier Finnair has increased capacity on its fl ights from the capital Helsinki to destinations in Lapland. For its part, the airport services


corporation Finavia has focused on travel infrastructure in Lap- land by investing a total of 35 million euros in Lapland airports between 2014 and 2016. At least 450 charter fl ights are


expected at Lapland airports this December. T e busiest charter fl ight airports are Kittilä with 150 fl ights and Rovaniemi with 140, roughly the same fi gures as in December 2015. In contrast, 93 charter fl ights are expected at Ivalo, 36 more than at the same time last year.


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