Note on Public Subsidy for Helsinki- Jyväskylä route.

Flybe operates a thrice-daily service between the Finnish capital, Helsinki and the University city of Jyväskylä. Although the distance, as the crow flies, between the two cities is 136 miles, the terrain between is such that a 45 minute flight is often preferable to a journey by train or car. Additionally, the route is used by a number of passengers from central Finland to connect onward to international destinations from Helsinki.

Despite the perceived advantages of flying, the economic viability of the route is marginal. To this end, it is part-funded by the Jyväskylä Regional Development Agency (JYKES) by means of start-up funding and marketing support - predominantly through website advertising, publicity flights for journalists and other awareness-raising initiatives. The funding package is designed to assist in start-up with the aim of stand alone economics as soon as practical, and in this case, within two years.

In the grand scheme of things, the amount of money contributed by JYKES is a relatively small amount of the total budget for the route, but crucially, it is sufficient to make it an operable, feasible route.