Luft­han­sa’s direct flights between Oulu and Munich con­ti­nue and extend into year-round con­nec­tion

Ger­man air­li­ne Luft­han­sa is set to con­ti­nue its direct flights between Munich and Oulu for the upco­ming sum­mer sea­son. Addi­tio­nal­ly, win­ter flights will extend into the next win­ter, establis­hing this his­to­ric rou­te as a year-round con­nec­tion. This makes it the only year-round inter­na­tio­nal flight con­nec­tion in Nort­hern Fin­land.

The round-trip flights will ope­ra­te on Tues­days and Satur­days star­ting from March 31 during the sum­mer sea­son. Win­ter flights will con­ti­nue on Wed­nes­days and Sun­days until the end of March and resu­me on Octo­ber 30.

Yrjö­ta­pio Kivi­saa­ri, Pre­si­dent & CEO of Oulu Tra­vel Mar­ke­ting Ltd, emp­ha­si­ses the sig­ni­ficance of the con­ti­nued ser­vice for the enti­re Oulu region’s tou­rism:

– A year-round, direct three-hour con­nec­tion from Munich to Oulu brings a new posi­ti­ve momen­tum and growth to inter­na­tio­nal tou­rism in the Oulu region. Ger­mans have been the second-lar­gest group of inter­na­tio­nal visi­tors to Oulu in recent years, just after visi­tors from Norway. Howe­ver, with the year-round flight con­nec­tion, Ger­ma­ny is expec­ted to sur­pass Norway as the lea­ding depar­tu­re count­ry. The con­ti­nua­tion of the rou­te also enables diver­se col­la­bo­ra­tion with Ger­man tour ope­ra­tors, Kivi­saa­ri says.

The Oulu–Munich flight rou­te was launc­hed on Decem­ber 16, 2023, and has been ope­ra­tio­nal for a month with a posi­ti­ve recep­tion.

– We are thril­led to announce a con­ti­nua­tion of our brand-new Oulu to Munich rou­te during Sum­mer 2024 making Luft­han­sa the only glo­bal air­li­ne to fly sche­du­led non-stop flights from Nort­hern Fin­land to the heart of Euro­pe. A month after the much antici­pa­ted and celebra­ted launch of Lufthansa’s Oulu to Munich flights, the con­ti­nua­tion of our ser­vice bey­ond the cur­rent win­ter months pro­vi­des nume­rous oppor­tu­ni­ties for the regio­nal tou­rism industry, cor­po­ra­te tra­ve­lers as well as lei­su­re tra­vel­lers, says Pat­rick Borg Hed­ley, Gene­ral Mana­ger Fin­land and Bal­tic sta­tes for Luft­han­sa Group air­li­nes.

Munich Air­port, Franz Josef Strauss Air­port, is Ger­ma­ny’s second-lar­gest and Euro­pe’s seventh-lar­gest air­port, offe­ring excel­lent con­nec­tions for both busi­ness and lei­su­re tra­ve­lers worldwi­de. During the sum­mer sea­son, the Oulu–Munich flight sche­du­le will shift by one day com­pa­red to the win­ter sche­du­le to pro­vi­de pas­sen­gers with compre­hen­si­ve onward con­nec­tions through Munich Air­port. Sum­mer flights will con­nect Oulu con­ve­nient­ly to over fif­ty con­nec­ting flights, inclu­ding des­ti­na­tions like Paris, Madrid, Vien­na, and Brus­sels.

Year-round con­nec­tion pro­vi­des new oppor­tu­ni­ties for Oulu region busi­nes­ses

Year-round flight con­nec­ti­vi­ty opens new oppor­tu­ni­ties for Oulu busi­nes­ses in the Ger­man mar­ket and Cent­ral Euro­pe.

– Luft­han­sa’s com­mit­ment to Oulu is sig­ni­ficant. Year-round con­nec­ti­vi­ty opens up new pos­si­bi­li­ties for Oulu busi­nes­ses to uti­li­se a direct rou­te to Cent­ral Euro­pe. From the pers­pec­ti­ve of air freight as well, year-round regu­lar con­nec­ti­vi­ty is bene­ficial. I antici­pa­te this flight con­nec­tion brin­ging new growth to the Oulu region, not only in tou­rism but also across various industries, says Juha Ala-Mur­su­la, CEO of Business­Oulu.

Munich is a pro­mi­nent inter­na­tio­nal busi­ness cent­re and one of Ger­ma­ny’s most eco­no­mical­ly impor­tant cities. Munich is home to a num­ber of major inter­na­tio­nal com­pa­nies, inclu­ding the Euro­pean headquar­ters of BMW, Sie­mens, Allianz and Mic­ro­soft. In addi­tion, Nokia has sig­ni­ficant ope­ra­tions in Munich and Ulm, which is just over an hour away from Munich by train.

Bava­ria is a diver­se region with alpi­ne pano­ra­mas, cast­les, and dra­ma­tic cities, all easi­ly acces­sible to tou­rists flying from Oulu. Christ­mas mar­kets, the Okto­ber­fest beer fes­ti­val, and the FC Bayern Münc­hen foot­ball team all cont­ri­bu­te to Munich’s popu­la­ri­ty as a tra­vel des­ti­na­tion. It only takes a few hours by train to reach the Alps from the city.

Flights for the upco­ming sum­mer and win­ter are now avai­lable

The year-round air link is expec­ted to inc­rea­se com­pe­ti­tion and enhance pas­sen­ger num­bers at Oulu air­port, which have decli­ned since the epi­de­mic years. The goal is for Oulu Air­port to regain its posi­tion as the second busiest air­port in Fin­land.

– The Oulu–Munich rou­te has been an excel­lent addi­tion to our air­port rou­tes. The con­nec­tion has enjo­yed popu­la­ri­ty among pas­sen­gers and sig­ni­ficant­ly strengt­he­ned the acces­si­bi­li­ty of Nort­hern Fin­land to Cent­ral Euro­pe. The popu­la­ri­ty is now evi­dent in the con­ti­nua­tion of flights year-round, which we are tru­ly plea­sed about, says Pet­ri Vuo­ri who is res­pon­sible for rou­te deve­lop­ment at Fina­via.

Flights for both the upco­ming sum­mer and win­ter sea­sons are alrea­dy avai­lable for boo­king on lufthansa.com.

Sum­mer flight sche­du­les from March 31, 2024 (as per Janua­ry 17, 2024):

Satur­day
LH2490 Munich 12:10 Oulu 16:15
LH2491 Oulu 17:05 Munich 19:10

Tues­day
LH2490 Munich 12:10 Oulu 16:15
LH2491 Oulu 17:05 Munich 19:10

For addi­tio­nal infor­ma­tion, plea­se con­tact:

• Yrjö­ta­pio Kivi­saa­ri (CEO, Oulu Tra­vel Mar­ke­ting Ltd // p. +358 40 546 6283, yt@visitoulu.fi)
• Juha Ala-Mur­su­la (CEO, Business­Oulu // p. +358 40 559 2030, juha.ala-mursula@businessoulu.com)
• Juuso Rönn­holm (Public Affairs Mana­ger, Business­Oulu // p. +358 50 574 1504, juuso.ronnholm@businessoulu.com)
• Pet­ri Vuo­ri (Senior Vice Pre­si­dent, Sales and Rou­tes Deve­lop­ment / Fina­via // p. +358 407221256, petri.vuori@finavia.fi) and/or
• Pat­rick Borg-Hed­ley (Gene­ral Mana­ger Sales, Fin­land & Bal­tic Sta­tes, Luft­han­sa Group // p. +358 40 9207598, patrick.borg-hedley@dlh.de)