Finnair has announced that it will start flying non-stop from the UK to Kittilä, in Lapland, in addition to the previously announced new service to Ivalo.

The new direct service will link Gatwick and Kittilä once a week from 12 December 2017 until the end of 20 March 2018.

Lapland is best known for offering a range of winter activities from ice fishing, sighting of Northern Lights and skiing to husky safaris and reindeer sleigh rides.

The airline will operate a weekly flight between Gatwick and Kittilä on Tuesdays, with the flights operated by Airbus A320 aircraft.

“There is increased interest towards Finland and especially Lapland as tourist destinations, and we are excited to be able to offer this new non-stop service from London direct to Kittilä in addition to the Ivalo service,” said Andrew Fish, general manager, UK, Ireland and Benelux.

“Lapland has been attracting hundreds of thousands of international tourists every year and the interest continues to grow steadily,” says Juha Järvinen, chief commercial officer at Finnair.

“The past winter seasons have been particularly successful and we have increased our winter capacity to Lapland by nearly 140,000 seats over the past four years.”

Return fares from Gatwick to Kittilä start at GBP169