Travel
China, Singapore, UK and Italy top the list of tourists flying in to northern Finland during Christmas season.
People from Murmansk and northern Norway now have to fly via St. Petersburg or Moscow to get to Arkhangelsk.
Eyes On Barents
The purpose is to show the world that the polar night is not dark, but actually full of colors, says the local project coordinator.
About 95 charter planes bring Europeans to Finnish Lapland on Sunday, one of the busiest days in aviation history of northern Scandinavia.
Finland’s most know comic book characters get a huge snowcastle ready before Christmas in Santa Claus Village on the Arctic Circle.
Additional to the cruise ships, the ban will be imposed on all land based operations, like hotels, restaurants and other establishments in Longyearbyen.
“Brim Explorer” will sail the Lofoten archipelago during summer and whale watching from Tromsø during winter.
The first phase of Kittilä Airport’s new expansion project is nearly complete and its new areas will be open to the public next week, on Thursday, 22 November, according to national airport operator Finavia. The improvements are part of a 55 million euro project at airports across Lapland.
28 new ships by 2022:
28 (and counting) new expedition ships capable of sailing Arctic waters are coming to the market over the next four years.
Cold climate is no obstacle for green battery commuting in the largest city in Sweden’s northernmost county.
Flights are scheduled from Istanbul three times a week starting from next winter season.
Barentsburg panorama. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Barentsburg with the Grønfjord glacier. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
The new restaurant Krasniy Medved (Red bear). Photo: Thomas Nilsen
With Lenin in front, the stele honouring communism was erected in 1974 to mark Svalbard's first multi-storey residential building. The text reads "Our goal is communism". The slogan in the mountain reads Mir i Mir - (Peace and Earth). Photo: Thomas Nilsen
A growing number of tourists are visiting Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Souvenir shop in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Nordenskiöld glacier. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Norwegian post service in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Arctic foxes. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
The coal plant in Barentsburg consumes about 30,000 tons of coal annually. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Ivan Velichenko shows a bottle of the town's own vodka named Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Nordre Isfjorden National Park. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
The new hotel in Barentsburg has room for 90 guests. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Lunchtime for this polar bear cub. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Old Finnish houses in Barentsburg. Nordre Isfjorden National Park in the background. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
A polar bear and a reindeer are on display in a corner at the library in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
The polar bear in the library wears helmet. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Upgrades of the infrastructure in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Coal mine facilities. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
GoArctica's boat is painted in Ukrainian colours. About 60% of the people living in Barentsburg are Ukrainians. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
GoArctic's boat "Barentsburg" has both Norwegian and Russian flag in the mast. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Russia has a rather large Consulate General in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Waste sorting. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Samovar (tea boiler). Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Arcticugol Spitsbergen is the state-owned company in charge of all activities in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Rail tracks into the coal mine in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Coal miner. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Coal mine. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Going deep-down. Mining operation today happens at 1,200 meters deep. Workers need about an hour to get down. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Back up after a long nights work in the mine. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
All coal mining happens underground. Photo: Thomas Nislen
Coal harbour from where ships bring the coal to England. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Maybe not the highlight of a guided tour in Arctic Barentsburg. The mine's waste dump. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
The cultural palace has seats for 450 people. That is about everyone who lives in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Kola Science Centre has a research station in Barentsburg. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Both Barentsburg and Pyramiden have their own vodka brands. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Nordenskiöld glacier. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
The three-mast sailing ship Antigua at the Nordenskiöld glacier, Svalbard. Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Siste/ mest lest
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Norway aims at being in the forefront in Europe of providing shore electricity to cut emission, but that might be a challenge at ports in the high north where power line capacity is limited.
Luxury cruise ship will next summer sail from Nome to Tromsø via the Northern Sea Route and then to Newfoundland via Greenland. In 2020, the idea is to circumnavigate the entire Arctic.
The perfect land of the north first referred to by Greek historian Herodotus finds a home in the Kola Peninsula.
Nobody wanted to buy tickets on what was supposed to be the first direct flight from Murmansk.
At least six vessels to get new gas-powered engines supported by batteries. Environmentalists call for other Arctic cruise-liner to follow.
For visitors, the Russian town on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago combines the contrasts of pristine Arctic beauty and Soviet style industry. Nowadays, however, Barentsburg is reshaping its business-focus to become a modern Russian hub for explorer travellers.
Hurtigruten continues to build cruise vessels carrying twice as many passengers as most other new-buildings in the Arctic expedition cruise business.
Visitors from the People’s Republic pour in, but the Arctic region of Murmansk won’t benefit, says controversial Member of Parliament Vitaly Milonov.
Swedish government announces 7 billion kroner for building North Bothnia Line high-speed railway further north to Skellefteå.
To be delivered in late 2020, the 200 passengers luxuriously ship will be built to Polar Class 6 standards.
72-hours visa-freedom and new multi-million cruise port are of little help. Murmansk gets only half the number of port calls this season compared with 2015.
Been there, seen that: 600 tourists pay up to $43,000 each to crush through the ice towards the top of the world before it melts away.
Flying to 41 regional airports in Norway, Widerøe har for before Second World War connected the remotest corners of Norway. In April, the airline gets its first jet.
Bigger plane with extra seats makes NextJet’s route between Oulu, Luleå and Tromsø more attractive.
A black info-box headlined “Nextjet files for bankruptcy” covers the booking-page of the Swedish airline that for the last few years has operated the route from Oulu via Luleå to Tromsø.
Airport operator Finavia is launching a major investment programme in northern Finland. It aims to raise the number of passengers using airports in Lapland and nearby Kuusamo to two million annually by 2030. That’s up from the 1.3 million people who passed through the region’s airports.
Nordavia launches the first direct flight between the Russian north and the Norwegian capital.
Starting in Norway, the voyages to Franz Josef Land have to make port calls in Murmansk both in and out of Russian waters.
With tens of small airports and many short-haul flights, northern Norway is ideal for introduction of electric passenger aircrafts.
Northern Russia could again be connected with Norway as Nordavia draws a new route map from Murmansk.
Cruise liner announces first purpose built luxury cruise vessel to put the top of the world on its itinerary.
The MSC «Preziosa» this week brought more that 3,500 tourists to Longyearbyen. It is the biggest ship ever in the Norwegian Arctic port.
Snow is more popular than ever. About 600 charter flights are landing at Finland’s three northernmost airports in the months ahead.