Turku is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately 202,000, while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 311,000. It is the 6th most populous municipality in Finland, and the third most populous urban area in the country after Helsinki and Tampere.
Finnair Oyj is the flag carrier and largest full-service legacy airline of Finland, with headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international air travel in Finland. Its major shareholder is the government of Finland, which owns 55.9% of its shares. Finnair is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance.
Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operated from Åland.
Finnish Commuter Airlines Oy, trading as Finncomm Airlines, was a regional airline with its head office on the grounds of Seinäjoki Airport in Ilmajoki, Finland, near Seinäjoki. The carrier operated flights to Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Sweden and 16 destinations within Finland from its base at Helsinki Airport. The airline was a member of the European Regions Airline Association. Finncomm Airlines was the largest domestic air carrier in Finland in terms of number of flights.
Turku Airport, is located in Turku, Finland, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north of the center, in Lentokenttä district in the Maaria-Paattinen ward of Turku. It serves approximately 450,000 passengers per year, being the fourth busiest airport in Finland by the number of passengers and second busiest airport by the amount of cargo tonnes. Turku Airport is exclusively operated by the state-owned company Finavia. Among normal operation the airport offers differentiated service specifically designed for low-cost airlines since 2008.
Turun Sanomat is the leading regional newspaper of the region of Southwest Finland. It is published in the region's capital, Turku and the third most widely read morning newspaper in Finland after Helsingin Sanomat and Aamulehti.
Turku Central Station is a railway station in the VII District of Turku, Finland. It has VR services to Helsinki and towards Joensuu. The station serves approximately a million passengers annually.
Posankka is a statue located in Turku, Finland. The statue, which is located near the campus area of the University of Turku and the Turku Student Village, represents a hybrid between a marzipan pig ("possu") and a rubber duck ("ankka"). It is a pink animal with a duck's lower body and a pig's head.
The Great Fire of Turku was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had faced several large fires before, including an especially devastating fire in 1681.
Avitrans was a charter airline based in Stockholm, Sweden. It operated ad hoc passenger and cargo charters, as well as wet-leasing aircraft to other carriers. It started operations in 2004 and had 70 employees. Its main base was Växjö Airport. A large portion of their flights was performed for the travel organiser and partial owner Sverigeflyg, with brand names Blekingeflyg, FlySmåland, Gotlandsflyg, Kalmarflyg, Kullaflyg, and Sundsvallsflyg.
Sunways was a charter airline consisting of sister companies Sunways Airlines A.B. (SWY), based in Stockholm, Sweden, and SUNWAY Intersun Havacilik Anonim Sirketi (SWW), based at Atatürk Airport and Antalya, Turkey. The airline was in operation from March 1995 to October 1997.
Small Planet Airlines was a Lithuanian leisure airline based at Vilnius Airport with further bases throughout Europe. It was the subsidiary of the Small Planet Group which also owned sister companies in Cambodia, Germany, Italy, and Poland, all of which are also now defunct.
Turku Cemetery is a cemetery inaugurated in 1807 and located in Vasaramäki on the south-eastern outskirts of the city of Turku.
The Blue and White Front was an ultranationalist political party in Finland which was founded in 2009 and dissolved in 2015.
Mein Schiff 3 is a cruise ship owned by TUI Cruises, and the first custom new build for the cruise line. She was delivered from STX Finland Turku Shipyard on 22 May 2014 and was followed by identical sister ships, Mein Schiff 4 in 2015, Mein Schiff 5 in 2016, Mein Schiff 6 in 2017. In addition, Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 were confirmed on 1 July 2015, with deliveries set for 2018 and 2019.
Finnair Flight 915 (AY915) was a scheduled flight by Finnair from Tokyo, Japan, over the North Pole to Helsinki, Finland, on 23 December 1987. In 2014, Finnish media reported a claim by two of the flight's pilots that the Soviet Union had fired a missile at the aircraft, which exploded less than 30 seconds before impact. The allegations came out only in September 2014, when Helsingin Sanomat, the leading Finnish daily newspaper, published an extensive article on the matter. The Finnish Broadcasting Corporation YLE reported on the article on the internet the same day.
Aero Flight 217 was a domestic passenger flight from Helsinki, Finland, to Mariehamn in the autonomous territory of Åland, operated by the Finnish flag carrier Aero O/Y. On 8 November 1963, the aircraft serving the flight crashed in poor visibility while attempting to land on a non-precision approach at Mariehamn Airport in the municipality of Jomala, resulting in the deaths of 22 people out of 25 on board. The crash remains the second most deadly aviation accident in Finland, the first being Aero Flight 311 almost two years earlier.
From 1906 to 1926, the Finnish Swimming Federation did not arrange a dedicated national competition, but spread out the hosting duties of the championship events to multiple clubs.
Åke Kalevi Keihänen was a Finnish travel agency entrepreneur, director of Keihäsmatkat and a groundbreaking figure in Finnish tourism. Keihänen became known for his extravagant behaviour, long hair and unique style of dress – in advertisement photography, he wore a chinchilla fur coat with only a pair of swimming trunks underneath. The coat was said to have cost him 120,000 markka. Keihänen was said to have copied his style of dress from the Danish travel agency entrepreneur Simon Spies.
