Latvian airline airBaltic is continuing its round-trip Lappeenranta flights initiated on 12 November 2009. Flights will be arranged four times a week from Lappeenranta to Riga in the future as well. The City of Lappeenranta and airBaltic signed a marketing partnership agreement for the period 1 November 2012 – 31 October 2015, which replaces the former contract.
airBaltic will fly from Lappeenranta to Riga on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The departure from Lappeenranta at 8:10 a.m. offers flight connections to 60 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and the CIS nations. In addition to the important morning connection to the business travel destinations of Frankfurt, London, Moscow and Paris, airBaltic offers a convenient corridor during the summer season to Athens, Nice and Venice.
airBaltic’s Vice President of Corporate Communications Jānis Vanags is pleased with the Lappeenranta–Riga route as well as with the cooperation with City of Lappeenranta representatives.
“Together with the specialists from the City of Lappeenranta, we have fruitfully brought Lappeenranta to the fore as a fascinating travel destination and have advanced the development of Lappeenranta’s tourist industry. By using the services of local hotels, restaurants and spas, travellers reinforce the profitability of the region’s business activity,” Mr Vanags says.
The marketing of Lappeenranta as a Finnish travel destination is continuously underway in Germany, Austria, Russia and the Baltic. In addition to Finland, the countries concerned are airBaltic’s main market regions, from which the majority of air passengers come.
Moreover, three visits by reporters and three introductory trips by travel operators have been realized with Lappeenranta’s marketing funding, during which the travel operators have familiarized themselves with the agents and offerings available in the Lappeenranta area.
In addition to the comprehensive articles and advertising in Baltic Outlook magazine, Lappeenranta has been featured in many Danish, German and Austrian periodicals as part of this versatile collaboration. Russia’s NTV network, which is watched by 170 million viewers, produced a documentary about airBaltic and Lappeenranta’s dynamically growing airport in November 2011.
Kari Korkiakoski, Deputy Mayor of the City of Lappeenranta, considers it important that this well-functioning cooperation will continue into the future. It represents versatile airline-based service provision where the actors are utilizing each other’s advantages, growing markets and improving the overall recognition of Lappeenranta’s airport as well as its appeal amongst South Karelians and travellers from Southeast Finland. Also from the perspective of St Petersburg, we now enjoy a greater competitive edge.
With the continuation of the flights to Riga, three airlines are operating in Lappeenranta. Finland’s Blue 1 flies between Copenhagen and Lappeenranta, and Ireland’s RyanAir between Lappeenranta and both Milan and Düsseldorf. Ryanair’s flights between Lappeenranta and Brussels will be terminated as of 17 April.
Further details:
Kari Korkiakoski, Deputy Mayor, City of Lappeenranta
Tel. +358 40 590 0310
Eero Immonen, CEO, Lappeenranta City Holding Company Ltd
tel. +358 40 703 9227
Markus Lankinen, Managing Director, Wirma Lappeenranta Ltd
Tel. +358 40 701 7328
Lappeenranta is a vibrant international University City and the center of Southeastern Finland located by the Lake Saimaa 220 km from both Helsinki and St. Petersburg. The research capital of the European forestry industry, a visionary in distributed and renewable energy solutions and the home of Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Lappeenranta is a center of expertise, established networks and innovative business support services. A rich variety of cultural events and memorable tourism experiences on Lake Saimaa, seasoned with Karelian hospitality, make Lappeenranta an all-year-round tourist destination. Lappeenranta is easy to get to via rail or road from Helsinki or St. Petersburg. Lappeenranta International Airport offers connections to over 200 destinations via airBaltic and Ryanair.
Lappeenranta warmly welcomes you to learn more at www.lappeenranta.fi. Watch us on YouTube: www.youtube.com/CityOfLappeenranta
Additional information: Mirka Rahman, Head of Marketing Communications, [email protected], +358 40 849 9161.
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