Turku Airport

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Turku Airport

Turun lentoasema
Åbo flygplats
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorFinavia
ServesTurku, Finland
Elevation AMSL49 m / 161 ft
Coordinates60°30′53″N 022°15′42″E / 60.51472°N 22.26167°E / 60.51472; 22.26167
Websitefinavia.fi
Map
TKU is located in Finland
TKU
TKU
Location within Finland
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,500 8,202 Asphalt
Statistics (2020)
Passengers112,585
Flight volume14,219
Freight (tons)3,692 (2019)
Source: AIP Finland[1]

Turku Airport (IATA: TKU, ICAO: EFTU), is located in Turku, Finland, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north of the center,[2] in Lentokenttä (Finnish for 'airfield'; Swedish: Flygfältet) district in the Maaria-Paattinen ward of Turku. It serves approximately 450,000 passengers per year, being the fourth busiest airport in Finland by the number of passengers (in 2019) and second busiest airport by the amount of cargo tonnes (in 2012).[3] Turku Airport is exclusively operated by the state-owned company Finavia. Among normal operation the airport offers differentiated service specifically designed for low-cost airlines since 2008.

Turku Airport and its surroundings are marketed as LogiCity[4] aiming to attract logistics companies and manufacturers.

History[edit]

Early years[edit]

Turku Airport was Finland's first civilian airport when it was built in Artukainen in 1935, but already in the 1920s there was a water airport on Ruissalo Island. Artukainen served as a main airport of Turku until the new airport was built in the municipality of Rusko in 1955. The location became part of Turku in 1957. A new terminal building was opened in 1978. The runway was upgraded to 2500 m in 1980. An air cargo terminal was opened in 1991 as well as an air cargo plate. Terminal 1 was renovated and enlarged in 1999. In the 1990s, Lufthansa CityLine operated flights to Hamburg and ELK Airways to Tallinn.

Development during the 2000s[edit]

A second cargo terminal was opened in 2003 and a second passenger terminal for low-cost airlines in 2008. Wizz Air launched flights to Turku in April 2008 and AirBaltic in July 2009. Wingo xprs operated flights to Stockholm-Bromma in spring 2009 and Jet Air to Gdańsk in 2009–2010.

Development since the 2010s[edit]

Norwegian Air Shuttle flew to Stockholm-Arlanda and Flybe Nordic to Tallinn during the winter season 2011–2012. Ryanair operated flights to Brussels-Charleroi, London-Stansted, Málaga and Barcelona-Girona only during the summer season 2012. According to Ryanair the period was very successful but they could not tolerate the raised airport costs of Finavia and promised to return all routes as soon as the price raise would be withdrawn. During the Ryanair's stay there was a 27% growth on passenger statistics.[5] Turku Airport was closed partially in July 2014 for the renovation of the runway and taxiways. Terminal 1 and the passenger apron were also renovated; Finavia budgeted 14 million euros for the renovations and improvements.[6] However, Scandinavian Airlines flights to Copenhagen, one of the most important destinations operated since 2006, were discontinued after the renovations. This had an immediate impact in passenger volumes.[7]

Terminal 2 was closed and its passenger services migrated to the main terminal due to an oil leakage clean up of a spare power unit in autumn 2014. In June 2015 Finavia announced that the low-cost terminal would be completely demolished and the low-cost concept would be continued in the first floor of main terminal in new premises.[8]

In March 2023, Finnair announced the termination of flights between Turku and Helsinki Airport in favor of a coach service due to low demand and the short distance.[9]

Logicity[edit]

Runway 26

Logicity started as a project of Pilot Turku Ltd (founded in 2003) but is now operated by Turku Municipal Property Corporation after the contract with Pilot Turku Ltd ended in 2010.[10] LogiCity will be a logistic hub built around Turku Airport. Logicity is supposed to link the different modes of transportation together. The location is considered ideal due to facts that Turku Airport is just 20 minutes from the sea ports of Turku and Naantali, whose combined values are comparable to the Port of Vuosaari in Helsinki. Both E18 highway to St. Petersburg and E63 to Tampere go via Turku Airport, and also rail transport connection to Russia and China passes by the Logicity area. Pilot Turku describes the Turku Region as "the meeting point of the East, the West and the Nordic countries" and as "the multimodal transport centre of the Nordic Triangle".[11]

Logicity is estimated to create at least 3,000 to 5,000 new jobs. The length of the runway at Turku airport has an option to be upgraded to reach 3,300 m (10,827 ft) to meet new demands.[12] There are several plans set for the nearby area: new roads, commercial centres, retail parks, industrial estates, logistic terminals and offices. In fact there is already a big commercial area along with the E18 ring road just few kilometers from the airport. Logicity is planned in two phases: Phase One allows to build 400,000 m2 (4,305,564 sq ft) of floorspace and Phase Two will increase it to 1,000,000 m2 (11,000,000 sq ft).[13] The project is regionally important and many towns near the airport (including Turku) are involved in the project as shareholders of Pilot Turku Ltd e.g. Kaarina, Lieto and Naantali.

In 2015, there were three zoning plans pending in the Logicity area: the northern side of the runway, the railway sites on the east and the industrial zones near the railway.[14]

Airlines and destinations[edit]

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Turku Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
airBaltic Riga
Amapola Flyg Mariehamn[15]
Scandinavian Airlines Stockholm–Arlanda
Sunclass Airlines Seasonal charter: Gran Canaria, Tenerife–South[16]
Wizz Air[17] Gdańsk
Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino[18]

Statistics[edit]

Passengers[edit]

Annual passenger traffic at TKU airport. See Wikidata query.
Annual passenger statistics for Turku Airport[19][20]
Year Domestic passengers International passengers Total passengers Change
2006 127,582 212,338 339,920 +3.6% Increase
2007 130,666 178,116 308,782 −9.2% Decrease
2008 102,003 216,094 318,097 +3.0% Increase
2009 90,746 187,275 278,021 −12.6% Decrease
2010 104,533 252,726 357,259 +28.5% Increase
2011 116,631 260,902 377,533 +5.7% Increase
2012 109,995 344,953 454,948 +20.5% Increase
2013 96,388 228,279 324,667 -28.6% Decrease
2014 93,107 204,751 297,858 -8.3% Decrease
2015 102,095 210,010 312,105 +4.9% Increase
2016 97,680 226,397 324,077 +3.8% Increase
2017[21] 106,022 227,582 333,604 +2.9% Increase
2018 105,746 263,686 369,432 +10.7% Increase
2019 106,825 346,102 452,927 +22.6% Increase
2020 25,251 87,334 112,585 -75.1% Decrease

* During 2014 the airport was operating only 11 months due to renovation of the runway

5 busiest routes by passengers handled:[22]
Rank Airport
(2012)
Passengers
(2012)
Airport
(2017)
Passengers
(2017)
Airport
(2018)
Passengers
(2018)
Airport
(2019)
Passengers
(2019)
1. Finland Helsinki
Decrease 87,362
Finland Helsinki
Increase 104,486
Poland Gdańsk
Increase 117,159
Poland Gdańsk
Steady 117,261
2. Sweden Stockholm–Arlanda
Increase 66,761
Poland Gdańsk
Increase 92,784
Finland Helsinki
Decrease 102,356
Finland Helsinki
Decrease 100,086
3. Poland Gdańsk
Increase 61,122
Sweden Stockholm–Arlanda
Decrease 83,141
Sweden Stockholm–Arlanda
Increase 85,679
Sweden Stockholm–Arlanda
Increase 86,331
4. Denmark Copenhagen
Decrease 53,567
Latvia Riga
Increase 30,824
Latvia Riga
Increase 35,132
Latvia Riga
Increase 45,536
5. Latvia Riga
Decrease 32,828
Åland Mariehamn
Steady 19,477
Åland Mariehamn
Increase 24,446
Poland Krakow
Increase 26,592

Freight and mail[edit]

Loaded/Unloaded freight and mail (tons) Turku Airport [23]
Year Domestic freight Domestic mail International freight International mail Total freight and mail Change
2006 132 260 2,883 3 3,278 +9.8% Increase
2007 50 102 3,304 3 3,459 +5.5% Increase
2008 43 0 4,650 1 4,695 +35.7% Increase
2009 157 0 6,761 0 6,919 +47.4% Increase
2010 72 0 6,988 0 7,061 +2.1% Increase
2011 1 1 7,852 0 7,853 +11.2% Increase
2012 18 0 7,994 0 8,012 +0.2% Increase
2013 0 0 5,342 0 5,342 -33.3% Decrease
2014 1 0 3,058 0 3,059 -42.7% Decrease
2015 - - - - 4,289 +40.2% Increase
2016 - - - - 3,731 -13.0% Decrease
2017 - - - - 3,238 -13.2% Decrease
2018 - - - - 4,140 +27.9% Increase
2019 - - - - 3,692 -10.8% Decrease
  • Finavia has not published Turku Airport's cargo statistics since 2014; 2015–2019 by Eurostat[24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "EFTU Turku" (PDF). AIP Suomi / Finland. Finavia. 30 June 2011. pp. EFTU AD 2.1, 1–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Turku Airport – Transport Connections". Finavia. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  3. ^ "Finavia's Air Traffic Statistics 2010". Vantaa: Finavia. pp. 7, 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  4. ^ "LogiCity". LogiCity. City of Turku. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Official Ryanair website - Cheap flights from Finland - Ryanair". Ryanair. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Turun lentoasema on suljettu 30.6.-27.7. / Uutisarkisto". Finavia (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Kauttakulkijoiden määrä väheni tuhansilla Turun lentoasemalla". ts.fi (in Finnish). 11 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Terminal 2 at Turku Airport to be demolished because of the clean-up project / News archive". Finavia. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  9. ^ aerotelegraph.com - "Short routes: Finnair replaces planes with busses" (German) 5 April 2023
  10. ^ "How to contact LogiCity". City of Turku. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  11. ^ "Why the Turku region?". LogiCity. City of Turku. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  12. ^ Heino, Jari (9 April 2008). "Kiitorata pidemmäksi, tieyhteys kentän pohjoispuolelle. Lentokentän seudusta puuhataan 3 000 ihmisen työpaikka-aluetta". Turun Sanomat (in Finnish). Turku, Finland: TS-Yhtymä Oy. Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  13. ^ "LogiCity is a logistically logical location". LogiCity. City of Turku. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  14. ^ "Pending Zoning Plans" (PDF). Turku. n.d.
  15. ^ "Amapola Flyg aloittaa 30.10. Lennot Maarianhaminasta Tukholmaan ja 31.10. Turkuun | lentoposti.fi". 18 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Flights". Tjärborg (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2 June 2020.
  17. ^ "WIZZ – Dream more. Live more. Be more". wizzair.com.
  18. ^ "Stamattina conferenza-stampa Wizz Air a Roma". 17 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Traffic statistics | Finavia". www.finavia.fi. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Traffic statistics – Passengers". Finavia. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  21. ^ "Passengers 2017" (PDF). Finavia. 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Database - Eurostat". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  23. ^ "Publications". Finavia. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  24. ^ "Database - Eurostat". ec.europa.eu.

External links[edit]

Media related to Turku Airport at Wikimedia Commons