Tampere-Pirkkala airport is one of the main airports in the National Airport Operator, Finavia’s network, and has recently undergone a terminal refurbishment to improve its services. Renovation of the airport’s terminal two has recently been finished and planning work to develop and refurbish Terminal 1 is underway.
The recently finished Terminal 2 investment lays a good foundation to serve international air traffic, with cost and service levels at Tampere-Pirkkala airport competitive for airlines. The refurbished terminal serves leisure travel on a low cost principle with traffic charges lower than those in the full service terminals. The flow of both passengers and baggage has been considerably improved meaning faster turnarounds, says the Airport Manager Mari Nurminen.
The Tampere region is the biggest growth centre in Finland outside of the capital, and is dynamic with good accessibility, but Tampere-Pirkkala is already looking at possibly expanding even further.
"Our short/mid term goal is to keep up the position of being second after HEL and work on to make it grow further by targeting LCCs and the tour operators for more flights from TMP. The potential is multiple compared to the actual pax figures at the moment. Eventhough the competition is hard we believe that with a good selection of attractive destinations we can enhance pax even from across the boarder - from Russia - as it has been the case,” said one of the local stakeholders for Tampere.
The Airport is in the middle of large economic region and serves large areas of Southern and Central parts of Finland. Rail connections are being developed to make the total travel chain a smooth experience, with an improvement in parking at the airport itself. The airport boasts: “Five minutes from parking to your departure gate,” according to Mari Nurminen.
“Fast and smooth handling is the advantage of a smaller Airport, people are used to travel for both business and leisure,” she said.
The airport has also undergone improvements to its shopping and restaurant outlets, as well as an improved baggage handling system.
Active regional cooperation is one of the assets required to strengthen the Airport and the routes according to the airport manager.
”Further development of network routes can stop the leakage to travel by land to HEL and will benefit local and international businesses and investments. Long term goal is to offer a sustainable travel chain via TMP for a great number of regions in the catchment area (overlaps with some neighboring airports and that's why Finavia is not promoting aggressively any individual airport!). The city of Tampere and neighboring municipalities around the airport share a common understanding that a good accessibility will guarantee further economic growth in the dynamic region."
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