Finland's flag carrier Finnair has announced that it is discontinuing two of its shortest domestic routes, from Helsinki Airport to the cities of Turku and Tampere, on economic and environmental grounds.
The flights will be replaced with bus connections, starting on 1 May, the airline said in a press release issued on Wednesday.
"The flights to Tampere and Turku are very short, and the relatively low passenger numbers – around 35 percent load factors – on these routes cause them to have a higher [carbon] emission per passenger than many other short routes in our network," Perttu Jolma, Finnair's VP of network management, said in the release.
Finnair said that while the scheduled flight time between Helsinki Airport to Turku and Tampere is 35 minutes, the actual flight time is about 25 minutes. The distance between Helsinki Airport to both cities on highways is around 170 km, or about a two-hour drive.
This summer, Finnair plans to operate four bus services between Helsinki-Turku and Helsinki-Tampere per day. It added that it will guarantee connections in case bus or flight schedules are delayed.
Finnair noted that most passengers coming from those two cities do not fly, but rather arrive by bus, train or car. However, the airline acknowledged that the decision could be a letdown.
"We understand that this decision disappoints customers who have used the flights, and we regret the inconvenience this causes them. We must, however, take both economic and environmental considerations into account," Jolma said.
Finnair said it has already replaced midday flights between Helsinki Airport and the two cities with buses, in an effort to reduce the routes' carbon footprint.
The company said road and rail options are "a more environmentally sustainable option for connecting these cities to Finnair's Helsinki hub."
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