Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

of over 6,000

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. It is an autonomous, Swedish-speaking province of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, with a demilitarised status and a special relationship with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, particularly in customs and taxation. Åland has a well-developed transport system encompassing air, road, and sea links. Maritime transport plays a central role in the region’s economy and connectivity.

Air transport

Mariehamn Airport Mariehamn Airport (, , ) is located in Jomala, Åland, Finland. The airport lies approximately north-west of the Mariehamn town centre. The state-owned Finavia operates the airport. Facilities The airport features a duty-free shop. Because ...

is served by

Nordic Regional Airlines Nordic Regional Airlines Oy (abbreviated as Norra and often stylised as N°RRA, previously ''Flybe Nordic'') is a Finnish regional airline based on the grounds of Helsinki Airport. Norra is owned as a joint venture by Finnair, Finland's flag ...

on behalf of

Finnair Finnair Plc (, ) is the flag carrier and largest full-service legacy airline of Finland, with headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its airline hub, hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...

. The island of

Kumlinge Kumlinge is a municipality and group of islands in Åland, an autonomous region of Finland. The main island is also named Kumlinge. The name is thought to mean "rocky passage". As of 31 December 2023, Kumlinge had a population of 320 and a tota ...

has a small airfield and a helipad, mainly used for charter flights and emergency services.

Road transport

Åland’s road network is quiet and well-maintained, attracting many cyclists. Several main roads () include separate cycle lanes. Public buses, operated by

Ålandstrafiken Ålandstrafiken is the public ferry authority of the Åland Islands, an autonomous, Swedish-speaking region of Finland in the Baltic Sea. It is managed by the Government of Åland, which oversees all inter-island ferry services as well as connect ...

, connect population centres and coordinate with the ferry network. Vehicles registered in Åland use number plates beginning with "ÅL". Many local roads are surfaced with red granite, giving them a distinctive reddish appearance.

Maritime transport

Ferries operated by

Viking Line Viking Line Abp is a Finland, Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferry, ferries and cruiseferry, cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland, Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Ex ...

Silja Line Silja Line is a Finnish shipping company and cruiseferry brand owned and operated by the Estonian shipping company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink S ...

, and

Tallink Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. It ...

stop at Mariehamn or

Långnäs Långnäs is a port in Lumparland on the eastern mainland of Åland, about 30 km over the road away from Åland's capital Mariehamn. Road ferries to Kumlinge (Snäckö) and Galtby via Föglö (Överö) and Kökar start here. Långnäs is an ...

as part of routes between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. These stopovers enable duty-free sales onboard due to Åland’s special tax status under the Åland Protocol, a provision of Finland’s 1995 EU accession agreement that exempts Åland from the EU’s

value-added tax (VAT) A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

and customs area.

operates inter-island ferries as well as services to the Finnish mainland, including ports in Galtby (

Pargas Pargas () is a town and municipality of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, the biggest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, 50,000. The big limestone mine in Pargas is the base of the main industry and except for the central parts, t ...

) and Vuosnainen (

Kustavi Kustavi (; ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is in the provinces of Finland, province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of (), which m ...

Eckerö Linjen Eckerö Linjen is a Finnish shipping company operating a ferry between Berghamn harbour in Eckerö in the Åland Islands and Grisslehamn in Sweden. The company is owned by the Åland based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Linjen should n ...

connects Berghamn in

Eckerö Eckerö is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish an ...

with

Grisslehamn Grisslehamn is a locality and port located on the coast of the Sea of Åland in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. The locality had 249 inhabitants in 2010. The name Grisslehamn was first mentioned in a document from 1376 about t ...

Finnlines Finnlines Plc (, ) is a shipping operator of Roll-on/roll-off, ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Celtic Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Balt ...

operates a route between

Naantali Naantali (; ) is a municipalities of Finland, town in Southwest Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important centre of tourism in the country. The municipality has a population of (), and is located west of Turku. The town h ...

and

Kapellskär Kapellskär () is a port about north of Stockholm, in Sweden. It is located by the Baltic Sea, in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County. Services The port was served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn, Åland, Finland, operate ...

via Långnäs.

References

External links

Ålandstrafiken
(archived)
Visit Åland – Travel information
Transport in Åland {{Finland-transport-stub