Daily air traffic from Turku to Gdansk

– On vacation, tourists yearn for experiences, and judging by the signs, this is going to be a record-breaking summer for domestic tourism. In the meanwhile, people take direct flights from Turku to several destinations in Europe, explains Managing Director of Turku Touring Ltd Anne-Marget Hellén.

Wizz Air launched flights between Turku and Gdansk in 2008, and in ten years, over 715,000 passengers have used this route. The majority of them are still Polish commuters, but the route has also been discovered by tourists.

– Moomin animations have been shown on the Polish TV for a long time, and the Moomin family is well-known there. As for Finns, they have also discovered Gdansk, and the short, approximately one-hour flight and daily departures attract travellers to mini vacations and shopping trips.

The easiest route from Europe to Turku goes via Stockholm: a Turku-Stockholm flight takes under an hour, and if you choose to travel by ferry, you will reach Turku in one day or night. Along with Stockholm, direct flights are available to Riga, Gdansk, and as a new destination, Kaunas in Lithuania.

Turku and Gdansk – twin cities of 60 years

The cities cooperate on the Baltic Sea protection, promotion of economic life, and several other themes.

– The cities work closely on i.e. environmental issues. Turku is an active member of the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) which has its headquarters in Gdansk. The secretariat of UBC’s Sustainable Cities Comission operates in the Baltic Sea House in Turku. Twin city activity offers possibilities for the comparison of good practices and operating models, and promotes the internationalisation of non-governmental organisations and educational institutions of different levels, says Manager of International Affairs Mika Akkanen.

Moomins at St. Dominic's Fair.

To celebrate the anniversary, Turku participates in St. Dominic’s Fair in Gdansk and brings along greetings from Moominvalley. Moomintroll and Snufkin will be presenting the Turku region on 10-11 August.

Important to each other in many ways

Turku and Gdansk have been twin cities for long already, but a whole new era of cooperation began when Wizz Air launched direct flight routes between the cities.

The direct flight routes opened a possibility for quick, affordable transport and potential for functioning as a unified commuting area.

Jari Rastas

– The direct flight routes opened a possibility for quick, affordable transport between these places and even potential for functioning as a unified commuting area. Today, daily flights are taken at a high commuter ratio. The route is used at a significant rate by both Poles and Finns, and a notable number of the passengers are tourists, describes Honorary Consul of Poland in Finland Jari Rastas.

Thanks to the EU free movement of workers, there is also intensive commutation between the countries. In the areas of Pomerania and so-called Tricity (Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot), Finnish companies directly and indirectly employ thousands of Poles. In particular, the area cultivates IT, design and other kind of technical know-how.

– As for the Turku region, thousands of Poles – perhaps around 3,000 – work there relatively permanently at the present time. The impact of marine industries is remarkable, and a large number of the Polish labour force are on the payroll of non-Finnish companies, Rastas estimates.

In the Turku region, there has been a good understanding of the meaning of cooperation for a long time already.

Visit Turku closely cooperates in order to promote tourism on both sides.

Anne-Marget Hellén

– In order to promote tourism on both sides, Visit Turku closely cooperates with the Gdansk Tourism Organisation and Pomeranian Tourism Organisation, Hellén explains.

Essential actors in the Turku region include e.g. the Federation of Finnish Enterprises South-West Region and Turku Chamber of Commerce, together with Turku Business Region. From the perspective of international cooperation, some significant events include e.g. the NaviGate fair and the business festival Shift, not to mention the active operation of Centrum Balticum.