Danish aviation company DAT started flights between Kajaani and Helsinki in May 2021. The company is satisfied with their contract with the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) and also the passengers have been happy with the operator and the time tables offered. To date, more than 5,500 reservations have been made for the route and almost 4,000 passengers have already flown on the route.
The cooperation between DAT and the regional stakeholders in Kainuu, including the public authorities and the tourism sector, has been fruitful. The development trend is quite promising, as more and more of the seats are reserved on the flights. On the first flights in May the utilization rate was 20 %, but in July it had risen already to 60 %. In fact, the route between Kajaani and Helsinki has been the busiest of all the nationally supported flights.
Now DAT and Traficom have extended their contract until the end of the summer season 2022. This has allowed DAT to open the winter season flights for bookings, and at the moment, it is already possible to purchase flights until the end of March 2022. The summer schedule, covering flights until September 2022, will be published on the company website in mid-October. DAT is also increasing their weekly capacity on the route between Kajaani and Helsinki.
Seamless services for international flights
Over the past five months, international travel to Kajaani has already affected the total number of bookings, but the COVID travel restrictions continue to affect the number of international travel. However, DAT estimates that in the future, one third of the passengers on the route between Helsinki and Kajaani will be international passengers.
The winter season is important for many companies in the Kainuu region, so the news of the seamless continuation of international flights has been well received. Passengers can now book flights to Kajaani for the winter of 2022 from all Finnair destinations. The stopover is in Helsinki and the luggage is checked in to Kajaani. The interline contract between DAT and Finnair makes international bookings and travel both quick and convenient.
Support for the European Youth Olympic Festival
The continuation of DAT flights and international connections is particularly good news for the organizers of the European Youth Olympic Festival, whose challenging task is to find trips for hundreds of young people around the world. The DAT operational team is in close contact with the event organizers, as the transport of winter sports equipment is a particularly challenging task.
The Fast Booker’s Tuesday campaign is a success
DAT’s special ticket campaign “Fast Booking Tuesday” has been a success story. In addition to normal low-cost airline tickets, DAT offers special promotional tickets every month on all their flights.
The “Quick Booking Tuesday” campaign goes on sale on the first Tuesday of every month, and tickets sell for only € 39 per way for the departures of that month.
Normally, the prices of one-way tickets start from 66 euros.
More information about the winter schedule and campaigns: