Booming Aland Islands reject Ryanair bid

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The authorities of the Aland Islands have announced they will not support Irish budget airline Ryanair in launching new air routes to the Finnish autonomous area which has become a booming destination for duty-free shopping

Ryanair reportedly targeted annual passenger traffic of 100,000 for the route, but the Aland Islands home rule government made the decision that it did not have the resources to deal with such numbers of tourists. The Aland Islands Tourist Association and the Aland Islands Chamber of Commerce had initially sought to delay the negotiations. Last month Estonian ferry operator Tallink negotiated with the port of Mariehamn to start operating a route from Tallinn to Stockholm via Mariehamn in 2004. A number of other shipping companies and airlines have also applied to operate via the islands.

Ryanair first showed interest two months ago in launching flights from Mariehamn - the major town on the Aland Islands- to Tampere in Finland and Vasteras near Stockholm, Sweden.

The Aland Islands became a member of EU together with Finland but were made an exception to the rules banning intra-EU duty-free sales in 1999.