Free flights to the south
Locals in the northern Finnish municipality of Enontekiö can fly without paying directly to Helsinki.
All local residents in the sparsely populated northwestern corner of Lapland are offered two round-trip tickets on the direct flight Enontekiö-Helsinki this spring, reports YLE. There are slightly less than 2.000 inhabitants in the municipality.
By giving away free of charge tickets to its inhabitants, the municipality believes the air-company that operates the route will continue to maintain the flights. Without being subsidized, the route would likely not survive. The tickets sponsored by the municipality to the air company FlyBe are worth €50.000.
FlyBe will be flying to Enontekiö two times a week in the period from February to May. The airport is also the nearest one to the Norwegian Sami municipality Kautokeino in Finnmark. Locals in Kautokeino hope increased traffic to the Finnish airport will boost tourist industry in the Norwegian, Finnish border area.
