Tampere–Pirkkala Airport

Tampere–Pirkkala Airport

*Tampere-Pirkkalan lentoasema*

*Tammerfors-Birkala flygplats*
Tampere–Pirkkala Airport; Tampere-Pirkkalan lentoasema; Tammerfors-Birkala flygplats
	IATA: TMP; ICAO: EFTP;
Summary
Airport type	Public/Military
Operator	Finavia
Serves	Tampere, Pirkkala, Finland
Hub for	airBaltic
Elevation AMSL	119 m / 390 ft
Coordinates	61°24′55″N 023°35′16″E / 61.41528°N 23.58778°E
Website	finavia.fi
Map
	TMP Location within Finland
Runways
Statistics (2022)
Passengers
Passengers	168,328
Landings	1,383
	Source: AIP Finland

Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (IATA: TMP, ICAO: EFTP; Finnish: Tampere-Pirkkalan lentoasema, Swedish: Tammerfors-Birkala flygplats), or simply Tampere Airport, is located in Pirkkala, Finland, 7 nautical miles (13 kilometres; 8.1 miles) south-west^[2] of Tampere city centre. The airport is the sixth-busiest airport in Finland, as measured by the total number of passengers (168,328 in 2022), and the third-busiest as measured by the number of international passengers (159,801 in 2022).^[1]

The airport is also home to the Satakunta Air Command base of the Finnish Air Force. F-18 Hornets were stationed at Tampere-Pirkkala airport until the middle of 2014 when the 21st flight of the Satakunta Air command was dissolved.

History

Tampere Airport was founded in 1936 in Härmälä neighbourhood, located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the centre of Tampere. At that time the airport was connected to Helsinki, Vaasa, Oulu and Kemi by Aero O/Y (now Finnair). The first terminal building was built in 1941. Karhumäki Airways began to fly to Stockholm in the 1950s. The runway was paved in 1958. Between 1936 and 1979 Härmälä airport served 1.5 million passengers. In 1979, Härmälä airport was closed and the new Tampere–Pirkkala Airport was opened.^[3]^[4]

The current terminal 1 building was completed in 1996.^[5] Ryanair started flights to Tampere–Pirkkala in April 2003. Its first destinations were Stockholm-Skavsta, London-Stansted, Frankfurt-Hahn and Riga. This made the airport one of Finland's fastest-growing airports and increased its annual passenger numbers from 256,380 to 709,356 between 2000 and 2008. In 2011, Ryanair had 13 destinations from Tampere–Pirkkala. Wizz Air flew to Gdańsk during summers 2010 and 2011. airBaltic resumed flights to Riga in March 2017.

The low-cost airline terminal 2 was renovated in 2014–2015.^[6] However, in April 2015, Ryanair announced that it would cancel all the routes from Tampere for the winter season 2015–16 due to a plane shortage. Then, only routes to Bremen and Budapest resumed in spring 2016.^[7] in late 2023, Ryanair terminated the route to London-Stansted, ending 20 years of service.

On 14 December 2021, AirBaltic announced that its first secondary hub outside of the Baltic countries would be established in Tampere Airport in May 2022.^[8] In March 2023, Finnair announced it would end flights between Tampere and Helsinki Airport and replace them with bus service due to low demand and the short distance.^[9]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Tampere–Pirkkala Airport: ^[10]

Airlines	Destinations
airBaltic	Copenhagen^{[better source needed]}, Málaga, Riga, Tallinn^[11] Seasonal: Gran Canaria,^[12] Kittilä,^[13] Palma de Mallorca,^[14] Rhodes

Statistics

Annual passenger statistics for **Tampere–Pirkkala Airport** ^[1]
Year	Domestic passengers	Change	International passengers	Change	Total passengers	Change
1998	113,170		81,549		194,719
1999	119,283	5.4	103,746	27.2	223,029	14.5
2000	140,817	18.1	115,561	11.4	256,378	15.0
2001	135,175	−4.0	130,875	13.3	266,050	3.8
2002	109,747	−18.8	126,525	−3.3	236,272	−11.2
2003	105,543	−3.8	198,482	56.9	304,025	28.7
2004	128,250	21.5	367,642	85.2	495,892	63.1
2005	114,669	−10.6	482,433	31.2	597,102	20.4
2006	119,432	4.2	512,578	6.2	632,010	5.8
2007	113,713	−4.8	573,998	12.0	687,711	8.8
2008	107,954	−5.1	601,402	4.8	709,356	3.1
2009	85,372	−20.9	542,733	−9.8	628,105	−11.5
2010	91,312	7.0	526,085	−3.1	617,397	−1.7
2011	96,625	5.8	561,005	6.6	657,630	6.5
2012	85,738	−11.3	485,001	−13.5	570,739	−13.2
2013	88,268	3.0	378,403	−22.0	466,671	−18.2
2014	93,313	5.7	319,296	−15.6	412,609	−11.6
2015	89,938	−3.6	267,144	−16.3	357,082	−13.5
2016	86,278	−4.1	122,652	−54.1	208,930	−41.5
2017	85,844	−0.5	144,180	17.6	230,024	10.1
2018	81,705	−4.8	146,391	1.5	228,096	−0.8
2019	87,006	6.5	135,384	−7.5	222,390	−2.5
2020	16,736	−80.8	19,214	−85.8	35,950	−83.8
2021	412	−97.5	7,979	−58.5	8,391	−76.7
2022	8,527	1,969.7	159,801	1,902.8	168,328	1,906.1

Freight and mail

Loaded/Unloaded freight and mail (tons) **Tampere–Pirkkala Airport**^[15]
Year	Domestic freight	International freight	International mail	Total freight and mail	Change
2005	111	0	0	111	−17%
2006	96	107	0	203	+83%
2007	65	105	0	170	−16%
2008	59	240	0	299	+76%
2009	14	845	2	861	+188%
2010	106	562	1	669	−22%
2011	109	433	0	542	−19%
2012	1	399	0	401	−26%
2013	69	303	0	539	+34%

Ground transportation

The airport is connected to the city centre of Tampere (25 minutes) by bus route 103, which runs a few times a day just after planes land.^[16]^[17]The bus fare for a single ticket to Tampere is €5.50^[18] (zones A+B+C).One can change to any other bus, tram or commuter train going anywhere within Tampere and parts of neighbouring municipalities within 90 minutes from the purchase of the ticket.

There are long-distance connections to Helsinki and other cities via the Tampere Bus Station. The timetables and fares can be found at the Matkahuolto web site.

Bus route 34 goes to central Pirkkala once an hour during rush hours. One can transfer to a few local buses that go to other parts of Pirkkala or Nokia, avoiding zone A completely.

A taxi service is also available in front of Terminal 1.

Means of transport at Tampere–Pirkkala Airport
Means of transport	Operator	Route	Destinations	Website
Bus	Tampere Regional Transport Authority	34	Pirkkala	www.nysse.fi
Bus	Tampere Regional Transport Authority	103	Tampere railway station Tampere bus station	www.nysse.fi

References

External links

Media related to Tampere-Pirkkala Airport at Wikimedia Commons

Finavia – Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (official site)
AIP Finland – Tampere–Pirkkala Airport
Current weather for EFTP at NOAA/NWS
Accident history for TMP at Aviation Safety Network

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