Ivalo Airport: Transfers to Saariselkä, Inari and Kakslauttanen

Updated 1 October 2026.

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Ivalo is the northernmost airport in Finland, and it is small: one runway, one terminal, a handful of flights a day. That works in your favour. You land, walk out of the door, and the bus to Saariselkä is at the kerb waiting, because it only runs when a flight actually arrives.

Four bases sit within an hour of the apron. Saariselkä is about 25 km away and roughly 30 minutes by bus. Kakslauttanen is about 10 km further down the same road, around 40 minutes by the resort’s own reckoning. Aurora Village Ivalo is the shortest hop at about 15 minutes. Inari village lies the other way, about 50 km north through Ivalo, and so do the Wilderness Hotels at Inari, Nellim and Muotka, which the company puts at around a 45-minute drive. The cheapest way out is the Saariselkä airport bus at 15€ an adult, paid to the driver. To Inari there is no pay-on-the-day option at all: you book before you fly, or you take a taxi.

Every way out of the airport, compared

Fares are one way, as published at the end of September 2026. The bus companies publish timetables and fares month by month, so check the operator’s page before you fly.

Two things fall out of that table. For one or two people, the bus is far and away the best value to Saariselkä and the Kakslauttanen road. For a family of four with luggage, the 95€ taxi to Saariselkä is the easier ride, door to door.

The Saariselkä bus: how it really works

Eskelisen Lapin Linjat runs the Saariselkä service, and it is a flight-meeting bus rather than a scheduled route. It runs only when a flight lands or departs, and it does not run at all if your flight is cancelled. In the October 2026 timetable, the airport departure sat about 20 minutes after landing, with the last run of the day timed for a 22:40 arrival: bus at 23:00, Saariselkä hotels at 23:30.

Tickets go to the driver, cash or card. Normal suitcases, backpacks and skis travel free. The route runs airport to the Saariselkä hotels, then on to Laanila, Kakslauttanen and Kiilopää. Groups are asked to tell the operator they are coming.

Getting to Inari: book it before you fly

Inari is the one that catches people out. Two operators run a shuttle and both want you booked in advance. Ilmari Slant Ky runs a daily Ivalo Airport to Ivalo to Inari service at 40€ per person, reserved through Matkahuolto, with winter 2026-27 already open. Visit Inari meets every flight at 70€ per person one way, but only with a booking made at least 60 hours ahead; it stops at Hotel Inari, Crow Creek Cabins and Holiday Village Inari, and the driver comes inside the terminal with a sign. Heading back, that shuttle leaves Inari 2.5 hours before your flight.

If you would rather have the car to yourself, Ivalo Taxi’s fixed price to Inari or Nellim is 125€ for up to three people and 150€ for four to eight.

Hotel transfers

Several of the northern properties handle the road themselves, which is worth checking before you buy a bus ticket you don’t need. Wilderness Hotels includes direct airport transfers in most of its ready-made packages; otherwise you arrange one in advance through their online store or by email, and they cannot set it up without your flight details. Northern Lights Village Saariselkä includes a shared shuttle in most packages. Kakslauttanen books transfers through the resort and gives about 40 minutes for the drive. Aurora Village sits 15 minutes away. Ask about the transfer when you book the room.

Star Arctic Hotel sells a transfer at 85€ for up to four people, and Lapponia Tours runs a private car for up to seven at 140€.

Hiring a car at Ivalo

Avis, Budget, Europcar, Green Motion and Hertz are listed at the airport by Finavia, with the warning that some open only when there is a reservation. Treat that as an instruction: book the car before you fly rather than hoping to sort it at the desk. Winter tyres are required in Finland through the winter months, studs allowed but not mandatory, and hire cars come fitted accordingly.

Parking is directly in front of the terminal, paid in advance by card at Finavia’s information desk or through a parking app. The last row of the car park has engine-heater spaces.

Who flies to Ivalo in winter 2026-27

Finnair flies Helsinki to Ivalo year-round, roughly 1 hour 40 minutes to just under two hours in the air, and trade reports put peak-winter frequency at around 30 or more flights a week. Return fares started at 178€ for late November and early December 2026 when checked at the end of September; that is an early-booking price, and fares climb steeply as the date gets closer. Finnair also runs a Helsinki to Ivalo to Kirkenes leg on into Norway.

Direct from elsewhere, British Airways confirmed to Finavia in July 2026 that it will continue flying London Gatwick to Ivalo this coming winter, though frequency and dates were not in that release. New for the season, Discover Airlines flies Munich to Ivalo once a week on Wednesdays from 23 December 2026 to 24 March 2027, and Edelweiss steps Zürich up from two flights a week to three in peak season. Eurowings from Düsseldorf, Lufthansa from Frankfurt, Austrian from Vienna and Transavia and Vueling from Paris all flew here last winter; check with the airline for this one. There is no easyJet, Jet2 or Ryanair route to Ivalo. Package charters also land here in winter, and they change year to year.

The terminal, and what “small” means in practice

One runway of 2,500 m, one terminal building expanded in 2016, and 249,056 passengers in 2025, flat on the year before. For scale, Kittilä handled 445,911 in the same year. Jets have been landing here since 1974.

Inside there is a small café doing sandwiches, pastries, coffee and soft drinks, licensed for alcohol, plus souvenirs, and a shop in the gate area with souvenirs, sweets and cosmetics. That is the estate. Arrivals clear fast because there is nothing to clear, which is the whole appeal of landing here instead of at a bigger airport further south.

Far-north arrivals and departures

With only a handful of flights a day, a missed or cancelled Helsinki connection can mean waiting for the next one, which in a thin week might be the next day. Build a real buffer into your Helsinki connection rather than the legal minimum, particularly on the way north with children. Remember too that no flight means no Saariselkä bus.

Late landings are normal and the system copes: the Saariselkä bus met a 22:40 arrival in October 2026 and ran to the hotels by 23:30. For Inari, a late landing without a pre-booked shuttle or taxi is your problem, not the airport’s. Tell your hotel what time you expect to arrive.

Going home, the return bus picks up at Kiilopää, Kakslauttanen and the Saariselkä hotels, including Hotelli Riekonlinna, Santa’s Hotel Tunturi and Holiday Club Saariselkä, and reaches the airport about 70 to 75 minutes before the flight. That tells you what the locals consider enough time at Ivalo. From Inari, Visit Inari’s shuttle leaves 2.5 hours out, because the drive is longer. If you are early, know that the café is the entertainment.

How I researched this

I built this guide in September 2026 from Finavia’s Ivalo Airport pages and newsroom, the bus operators’ own timetables and price pages (Eskelisen Lapin Linjat, Ilmari Slant Ky and Visit Inari-Saariselkä), Ivalo Taxi’s published price list, hotel and resort transfer pages, and airline and trade-press route announcements for winter 2026-27. Prices are as published when checked and can change, and bus timetables here come out month by month, so check the operator’s page before you fly. Nobody from Lapland Trip Planner has flown into Ivalo or used these transfers; this is a researched comparison, not a review. For onward legs south by train or long-distance bus, Omio is the easiest English-language place to see the options in one list.

Common questions

Written by Ville Laukkanen

Ville is a Finn who runs Lapland Trip Planner. The site is a researched planning guide: hotel rates come from Booking.com listings and activity prices from the operators' own pages, each dated, and nothing is presented as a personal stay or trip unless it was one.