For the 2023-2024 winter season, airlines have scheduled 1.6 million seats for passengers travelling to Lapland. This is 15% more than in the previous year, according to calculations by Finavia, which were provided to YLE by Finavia. (Yleisradio Oy, abbreviated as Yle, in English – Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a public limited company that is 99.98% owned by the Finnish state and employs approximately 3,200 people in Finland).
Lapland is the destination for more than half of the tourists travelling to Finland in winter
YLE, citing information provided by Finavia, reported that tourist flights to the country's northern region generate approximately 500,000–700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Calculations by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) suggest that these flights account for about 9–13% of all emissions generated by air travel in Finland.
Experts interviewed by the public broadcaster said this figure is equivalent to the annual emissions from all activities in a town the size of Seinäjoki, or matches the estimated “emissions budget” of Tampere's residents for the year 2030. It should be noted that this volume is also equivalent to the average annual carbon emissions of 64,000–90,000 Europeans.
Professor Michael Lettenmeier of the University of Helsinki (Michael Lettenmeier) believes that current forms of tourism in Lapland need to be reconsidered. He emphasises that "flights to Lapland alone (in terms of the harmfulness of emissions) create problems for approximately 250,000 people globally – which is 1.5 times more than the population of Lapland or Tampere. How long do we want to continue like this?"
Meanwhile, Johanna Niemisto, a senior researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), reminds us that every individual is responsible for their own carbon footprint. On average, European residents generate 7.77 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year. Of this, approximately 10% comes from emissions generated by flying return from London to Rovaniemi.
In December 2023, YLE wrote that British holidaymakers remain interested in taking one-day trips by plane to Finnish Lapland. The six-hour tourist excursion includes various activities – snowmobiling, sleigh rides, “meeting” huskies and Santa Claus.
Four years ago, tourism experts provided an assessment to the public broadcaster YLE, pointing out the unsustainability of such trips. The experts emphasised that this type of travel “has no future”.
Silja Jääskeläinen (Silja Jääskeläinen, author of a civic initiative calling for the introduction of a flight tax in Finland) is shocked not only by the emissions generated by air travel but also by the fact that one-day trips are available in an “era of climate emergency”.
"Finland should be interested in the ethical aspects," Silja Jääskeläinen pointed out to YLE. "We supported a special tax on flights because we were not surprised by the volume of emissions, but rather by the fact that activities of this kind are still possible during a climate cataclysm." The author of the initiative emphasised that the Finnish government should act immediately to address this problem. Expressing regret about the situation, she stressed: "It must be concluded that the tax-free regime for flights is a guarantee that flying is the cheapest and fastest way to increase your personal CO₂ emissions."
Forecasts indicate that air traffic intensity will increase
The International Air Transport Association has estimated that the total number of air passengers globally will reach 4.7 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, the Regional Council of Lapland hopes that new tourism records will be set in 2024 and, in particular, in 2025.
Kristiina Hietasaari (Kristiina Hietasaari), Director of Visit Finland, admitted that Finland's location is particularly problematic from the perspective of rising emissions. The emission intensity of flights in the country is nearly 50% higher than the European Union average. K. Hietasaari informed that Visit Finland is currently researching how to achieve lower carbon emissions. She emphasised: "The goal is to ensure that tourists stay longer and also see the seasonal differences in Finland. That is a way to promote sustainable tourism."
In an interview with YLE, Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne emphasised that the country’s climate policy should not hinder economic activity or tourism in Lapland.
“We see promising signs for the development of tourism in Lapland and can be glad that, in these times, Lapland is attractive in the eyes of foreign visitors,” she stressed. In L. Ranne’s view, neither Finland nor Finns should suffer from a guilty conscience regarding air travel. “Of course, to reach climate goals, we face various problems to solve, but the work towards achieving them must not be more important than the efforts to strengthen our economy,” she emphasised. “Our climate measures must not destroy tourism in Lapland.”