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Kuopio Airport (EFKU) lies at Rissala in Siilinjärvi, about 14 kilometres north of Kuopio city centre in the lake country of Pohjois-Savo, Finland. It is a joint civil-military field, home to the Finnish Air Force's Karelian Air Command, and offers a single long, ILS-equipped runway that makes it a straightforward and interesting destination for visiting pilots. Surrounded by the waters of the Finnish Lakeland, it has a distinctive wartime and Cold War history alongside its modern role as one of Finland's busier regional airports.
Kuopio Airport serves the city of Kuopio from its site at Rissala in Siilinjärvi, some 14 kilometres to the north, and is operated by Finavia. It is unusual in combining scheduled and charter civil traffic with a front-line military presence, being shared with the Finnish Air Force's Karelian Air Command and Fighter Squadron 31. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot, the field offers a single very long, lit runway with an ILS, set amid the lakes of North Savonia, and a flying history stretching back to the Winter War era.
The airfield sits in the lake country of Pohjois-Savo, in Rissala, part of the municipality of Siilinjärvi, roughly 14 kilometres north of Kuopio city centre. It is surrounded by water, with Lake Kallavesi and the wider Saimaa lake system close by; a separate 'Lake' terminal, about 250 metres from the main terminal, gives the airport a direct link to the Saimaa waterway network connecting Kuopio to Lappeenranta, Savonlinna, Joensuu, Mikkeli, Varkaus and Imatra.
The airport has one physical runway, 15/33, some 9,131 feet long with a hard, lit surface. An ILS is provided for runway 33, giving instrument approach capability at a field otherwise defined by its exceptional runway length for a regional Finnish airport.
Pilots should expect to work Kuopio Approach on 130.6 MHz, monitor the ATIS on 128.775 MHz, and contact Kuopio Tower on 120.15 MHz. An ILS serves runway 33, supporting instrument approaches into the field.
The airport's setting amid the lakes of North Savonia is itself a strong visual cue, with the waters of Lake Kallavesi and the wider Saimaa system bordering the field. The separate lake-side terminal, built in 2008 a short distance from the main terminal building, provides an additional distinctive landmark for pilots orienting themselves in the vicinity of the airfield.
Kuopio Airport was completed in November 1939, with flight operations beginning in May 1940. During the Second World War it was used by the Luftwaffe between 1942 and 1943, and during the Continuation War its runways were constructed from plywood. The first passenger terminal opened in 1949 and was replaced by a new building in 1971. In 2004 Kuopio was named Airport of the Year in Finland, and by 2006 it was one of only five profitable airports in the country, a position attributed in part to the shared use of its runways by the Finnish Air Force's Karelian Air Command and by civilian airlines. The airport gained its first international scheduled route when AirBaltic flew to Riga between 2008 and 2011. On 3 October 1978 a Finnish Air Force Douglas C-47A crashed into nearby Lake Juurusvesi while attempting to return to Kuopio after an engine failure shortly after take-off, with the loss of 15 lives.
Kuopio Airport remains the home base of the Finnish Air Force's Karelian Air Command and Fighter Squadron 31, sharing its runway with civilian traffic including Finnair services and seasonal charter flights. The airport also provides a setting for active general aviation alongside its scheduled and military operations.
