Air connectivity to one of the remotest parts of northern Europe is set to grow thanks to five new direct European routes operated by AirBaltic to and from Finnish Lapland, starting from December 2026.
The Latvian flag carrier is launching new connections to the major winter sports destination of Kuusamo, flying from Berlin, Hamburg, London, Manchester, and Riga. Direct flights from Düsseldorf, Zurich, and Frankfurt to Kuusamo are already on sale, and elsewhere in Finland, inside the Arctic Circle. The airline also flies to Kittilä.
New winter route: Riga – Kuusamo ✈️🇫🇮 Chase the Northern Lights, wander through snow covered forests, and experience the quiet magic of Lapland.
— airBaltic (@airBaltic) March 24, 2026
❄️ From December 11, fly direct from Riga to Kuusamo and discover a winter escape that feels truly different: https://t.co/b9MBwYzpdQ pic.twitter.com/rTzE6ceCqe
Commenting on the reasoning behind the newly expanded offer, Mantas Vrubliauskas, vice president of Network Development at AirBaltic, told Finavia, “Ruka-Kuusamo is a growing winter destination that offers excellent skiing opportunities and a unique northern natural environment. Together with our existing route to Kittilä, these new additions provide our customers in Finland, Latvia, Germany, and the United Kingdom with even more options for planning their winter holidays.”
Welcoming the development, Teemu Ahola, Director of International Operations at Visit Finland, said the “new connections offer an excellent opportunity to make Ruka-Kuusamo’s attractive winter activities and beautiful natural landscapes accessible to an increasing number of European travelers.”
Named the Outdoor Destination of the Year 2025 at the Scandinavian Outdoor Award Travel, at ITB Berlin last March, the Ruka-Kuusamo region in northeast Finland boasts the Ruka Ski Resort—one of Finland’s largest, with a season from October to May. But with the waterfalls, forests, and canyons of the Oulanka National Park and two others too, it is increasingly a year-round destination, offering prime Northern Lights viewing, in addition to bear watching, canoeing, hiking, ice fishing, snowshoeing, and white-water rafting.
Kuusamo attracts around a million tourists every year on average. The expanded AirBaltic schedule is expected to cater to an extra 11,840 foreign tourists annually. If the connectivity is right, it’s a spot likely to attract not only winter holidaymakers but also those seeking to avoid extreme summer temperatures with “coolcations.”
Citing the collaboration between airBaltic, local businesses, the City of Kuusamo, Finavia and Visit Finland, Juhani Haarma, the CEO of Ruka-Kuusamo Tourist Association, hailed the “business opportunities for local tourism companies” that are anticipated to stem from such “significant tourism investments made in our region.”
The Finnish routes are not the only recently announced network expansion for AirBaltic. The carrier is also launching new routes to Katowice, Poznan, and Warsaw from Gran Canaria, plus connections to Liège, Ljubljana, and Palanga from Tenerife.
