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Finnish Lapland is known as the world’s most Christmassy place – we’re talking Santa’s Grotto, reindeer, the lot. It’s also a great option for a summertime ‘coolcation’, offering pleasant spring-like temperatures while southern Europe melts in the heat.
Both are great reasons to visit, but with new flights launching later this year, the Nordic region is looking to bolster its growing reputation as a hotspot for winter holidays beyond the festive period.
From December 2026, Latvian operator AirBaltic is launching brand-new connections to Kuusamo, a major winter sports destination in Lapland that’s home to one of the country’s largest ski resorts – Ruka Ski Resort – from Berlin, Hamburg, London, Manchester and Riga.
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‘Ruka-Kuusamo is a growing winter destination that offers excellent skiing opportunities and a unique northern natural environment,’ said Mantas Vrubliauskas, vice president of Network Development at AirBaltic, to Finavia. ‘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.’
The region is in northeast Finland – recently named the happiest country on the planet – and while skiing is high on the agenda for plenty of travellers, Kuusamo is also a brilliant place for glimpsing the Northern Lights, exploring landscapes like Oulanka National Park (which is full of waterfalls, forests and glorious canyons) and getting involved in everything from bear-watching, canoeing, and hiking to ice fishing, white-water rafting, and snow-shoeing.
Kuusamo already welcomes around one million visitors each year, and the expanded flight offering is expected to cater to 11,840 more annual visitors.
Flights from UK airports will begin on December 13 and run every Sunday until March 28.
🏔️ These are Europe’s best places for a ‘coolcation’.
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