Severe winter weather and strong crosswinds disrupted operations at Kittilä Airport in northern Finland on Saturday afternoon when two aircraft slid off taxiways into snowbanks shortly after landing. No injuries were reported, but the incidents triggered a large-scale emergency response and significant flight disruptions.
The primary incident involved a Swiss International Air Lines Airbus A220-300, registered as HB-JCM (flight LX8904), arriving from Geneva with approximately 150 passengers on board. At first, the aircraft circled Kittilä airport. After eventually landing on runway 34 at approximately 16:01 local time, the aircraft was taxiing at very low speed when powerful gusts pushed it off taxiway T and into a snowbank. The aircraft did not sustain immediate damage, but required towing, causing delays and cancellations, including the possible cancellation of its scheduled return flight to Geneva.
A second aircraft, a JetBee Nextant 400XT business jet with fewer than 10 passengers, arriving from Prague, also skidded into a snowbank under the same conditions. The two aircraft did not collide.
Emergency services received a major air traffic accident alert shortly after 16:00, deploying up to ten rescue units. Finnish airport operator Finavia confirmed that no passengers or crew members were injured and that both incidents were caused by exceptionally challenging weather conditions.
At the time, Kittilä was experiencing storm-force northerly winds of up to 41 knots, blowing snow, near-freezing temperatures, and poor braking conditions. The runway was fully covered with wet snow and ice, with reduced friction and drifting snow, forcing aircraft to taxi at minimal speeds.
Air traffic at Kittilä was severely disrupted for several hours. An airBaltic aircraft was forced to wait on the apron, and a Finnair flight returned to Helsinki. Finavia warned of continued delays at Kittilä and other Lapland airports, including Rovaniemi and Ivalo, as winter storm conditions persisted.