Mariehamn Airport stays closed in summer

Mariehamn Airport will remain closed from 16 May to 3 July to carry out renovation works, said the country’s airport operator Finavia in a press release on Tuesday.

Finavia is investing five million euro in the renovation of the airport. The renovation includes repaving the runway and renewing the runway light system.

The investment ensures the operational preconditions of air traffic in Åland well into the future.

The planning and execution have followed Finavia’s climate programme, thanks to which all of the operator’s airports became carbon neutral in 2019. The next goal will be to achieve zero net emissions.

“I’m particularly happy about the central role of environmental issues in the renovation. We are replacing the current runway lights with energy-efficient LEDs, which will take us closer to our next climate goal. We will also renew the fuel distribution area to facilitate refueling field vehicles with biodiesel,” said Tanja Sabel, director of Mariehamn Airport at Finavia

The renovation process will last a total of three months. The work will begin in early April and be completed in early July.

Urgent medical transport will operate throughout the renovation as helicopter transport. Other medical transport and mail will be organised with ferries.

The execution schedule has also taken into consideration the Tall Ships Race event that will be organised in Mariehamn in July. The renovation will be completed just in time for the event. When completed, the airport will be ready to serve both domestic and international passengers, especially with the centennial of Åland’s autonomy on 9 June 2022 in mind.

Mariehamn Airport has regular route traffic to Helsinki, Stockholm, and Turku. In 2019, 54 weekly flights operated at Mariehamn Airport. In 2020, the year of COVID-19, the number of weekly flights was 30.