The Municipality of Enontekiö, in the northwest of Finnish Lapland, is again distributing free airline tickets to all its local residents. The local administration has decided to provide each resident with two round-trip air tickets Enontekiö-Helsinki this spring.In order to maintain air services for the sparsely populated municipality, Enontekiö provides guarantees of seat bookings to the airline FlyBe, this year worth 50,000 euros. Last year the municipality paid around the same amount, which translated into some 200 flights that were given out free-of-charge to locals.

Enontekiö believes that the subsidy is worthwhile, as it gives local residents a guaranteed flight connection to Helsinki and better access from there to international flights. In addition, subsidising airline operations serves local businesses that are highly dependent on the tourism industry.FlyBe will be starting flights between Helsinki and Enontekiö onTuesdays and Wednesdays as of February 19th and operating through May 6th.