Finavia has completed the €11 million renovation of the approach lighting system at Tampere-Pirkkala Airport.
The Finish airport operator notes that the project was completed on schedule, and did not cause any interruptions to scheduled air traffic.
“Renovations of approach lighting systems are important for ensuring continued safe and smooth operations,” commented Mari Nurminen, Finavia’s director of Tampere-Pirkkala Airport.
“Lighting system renovations are major construction projects, as there are numerous light masts spread over a large area, parts of which are difficult to access.”
Finavia is often able to carry out the planning of air traffic area renovations using its in-house expertise in line with the requirements of ICAO, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.
“The planning must take into consideration differences in terrain elevation in the airport area, as well as trees, buildings, future land use, and flight obstacles. High operational reliability and resilience to disruptions are also key priorities in all planning and construction activities,” notes Nurminen.
GROWTH OF THE AIRPORT
Tampere-Pirkkala Airport is one of Finavia’s four shared-use airports, which serve both military and civil aviation at the same time.
It handled a total of just over 140,000 passengers in 2025 and around 66,000 in the first six months of 2026 – a year-on-year increase of 3.6%.
In June, Finnair announced that it will resume scheduled daily flights between Helsinki Airport and Tampere-Pirkkala Airport in October 2026.
In addition, Air Baltic operates flights to Malaga and Riga from Tampere-Pirkkala Airport.
THE PROJECT’S TECHNICAL DETAILS
• Approach lighting system length: 900 metres
• Light masts: 50
• Height of light masts: 0.3–13.6 metres
• Electrical cables replaced: approximately 12 kilometres
• Energy-efficient high- and low-intensity lighting units: 136 lighting units with a total of 182 individual light sources
• Employment effect outside Finavia: approximately 20 persons from local companies
• Secondary use of materials: the old lighting units and cables were recycled, and some of the masts will be reused for new purposes at Finavia’s other sites.
• Asphalted and repaved areas: 24,300sqm