New LOT Polish Airlines Flights to Rovaniemi Cut the Cost of Lapland Family Holidays

Published 30 November 2025

LOT Polish Airlines has officially joined the race to Santa’s hometown. From 27 November 2025, the Polish flag carrier is operating new direct flights from Warsaw Chopin Airport to Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, giving Central and Eastern European families a fresh way to reach the Arctic Circle — and potentially bring down the cost of a once‑in‑a‑lifetime Lapland holiday. ^[1]

At the same time, UK and Irish tabloids are full of stories about parents hacking hundreds of pounds off the price of Lapland trips by “DIY‑ing” their itineraries instead of buying expensive packages. One such feature in the Mirror describes a family saving about £500 on a Lapland break by piecing together flights, accommodation and excursions themselves — exactly the sort of strategy that LOT’s new schedule now makes easier.

A new Warsaw–Rovaniemi route in time for Christmas

The new Warsaw–Rovaniemi route is LOT Polish Airlines’ first scheduled connection to Finnish Lapland and currently its only regular service to any airport in Finland. ^[2]

Key details of the route:

Launch date: 27 November 2025
Airports: Warsaw Chopin (WAW) – Rovaniemi (RVN)
Frequency: 2x weekly, Thursdays and Sundays
Season: Late November 2025 through 1 February 2026 ^[3]
Scheduled flight time: Around 2 hours 45 minutes each way ^[4]

According to LOT’s own press office and timetable announcements, flight LO477 leaves Warsaw at 11:35, with the return flight LO478 departing Rovaniemi at 16:50, giving passengers almost a full final day in Lapland before heading home. ^[5]

Finland’s airport operator Finavia describes the link as the first ever scheduled winter route between Poland and Rovaniemi, underlining its importance for both Polish outbound tourism and Lapland’s growing role as a global Christmas destination. ^[6]

What kind of aircraft and onboard experience can travellers expect?

Finavia confirms that the route is being served by a 186‑seat Boeing 737 MAX 8, giving LOT the flexibility to handle strong seasonal demand while offering a modern, fuel‑efficient narrow‑body. ^[7]

LOT’s Rovaniemi landing page highlights several traveller‑friendly touches for these flights:

Carry‑on baggage up to 8 kg plus a personal item is included in all fares. ^[8]
Families can expect kid‑focused touches such as colouring pages and small gifts on board. ^[9]
Tickets are sold through all standard LOT channels (website, call centre and LOT Travel offices), so they can easily be combined with other LOT sectors for travellers connecting via Warsaw. ^[10]

LOT’s broader marketing for the route leans heavily into emotion: the airline frames Rovaniemi flights as a “journey towards Christmas,” positioning the route not just as transport but as an integral part of the festive experience. ^[11]

Why Rovaniemi, and why now?

Rovaniemi isn’t just another Nordic city on the map — it markets itself as the official hometown of Santa Claus, home to the famous Santa Claus Village right on the Arctic Circle. LOT, Finavia and tourism outlets all lean on this positioning, emphasising that visitors can: ^[12]

meet Santa in his “office”
send postcards stamped with a special Arctic Circle postmark
cross the Arctic Circle line
enjoy reindeer and husky rides directly from the village area

Beyond Santa, the region offers dog‑sledding, snowmobiling, skiing, snowshoeing and the chance to see the Northern Lights, usually from late autumn through early spring. ^[13]

Finavia’s winter 2025/26 outlook underlines just how hot Lapland has become as a cold‑weather destination:

During this winter season, 75 scheduled routes will serve Lapland’s airports.
Rovaniemi alone is connected to 38 international airports and is on track to surpass one million passengers by Christmas 2025 — a historic milestone. ^[14]

In that context, LOT’s new Warsaw–Rovaniemi flights are more than a nice seasonal extra; they are part of a strategic push by both the airline and Finnish tourism authorities to diversify where Lapland’s visitors come from and how they get there.

Competition is heating up: Ryanair, TUI and others target Lapland

LOT is entering an increasingly crowded winter playground. Across Europe, airlines and tour operators have been racing to add capacity to Lapland and other snowy Finnish regions.

Ryanair has expanded aggressively at Rovaniemi, adding routes from Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Shannon this winter, on top of existing services. ^[15]
In Ireland, budget flights from Dublin and Shannon to Rovaniemi have been promoted from as low as €22–27.99 in November, with higher but still competitive fares in December. ^[16]
TUI has launched Christmas‑themed packages to Finland’s Arctic Lakeland via Kajaani, marketed as a slightly cheaper, less crowded alternative to classic Lapland, with three‑night Santa breaks starting from about £815 per person, including flights, accommodation, transfers, winter gear and festive excursions. ^[17]

Finavia notes that the biggest jumps in Lapland capacity this winter are being driven by Finnair, Ryanair and easyJet, while Rovaniemi sees eight new scheduled international routes — including LOT’s Warsaw connection. ^[18]

All of this puts downward pressure on prices and pushes airlines to differentiate on experience. LOT’s strength lies in:

providing a full‑service product (baggage, loyalty miles, through‑ticketing) rather than pure low‑cost
tapping into a large catchment in Poland and neighbouring countries via its Warsaw hub
positioning itself as a family‑friendly carrier, with child‑focused onboard features and holiday‑themed marketing. ^[19]

LOT’s move fits a wider winter 2025/26 network strategy

The Rovaniemi launch is not happening in isolation. LOT has been steadily redesigning its winter offering to balance sun and snow.

According to travel‑industry outlet TravelWires and LOT’s own press releases, the winter 2025/26 network includes: ^[20]

new warm‑weather routes such as Marrakesh, Malaga and Istanbul
“cold” adventures including Stavanger (Norway) and Rovaniemi
the return or reinforcement of popular mid‑ to long‑haul winter routes like Tenerife and Dubai

On the fleet side, LOT is in expansion mode as well. Earlier this year it signed a lease deal for two additional Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliners for delivery in 2026, and has a major tender underway for dozens of regional aircraft — signals that the airline is preparing for sustained growth across both European and long‑haul markets. ^[21]

By adding Rovaniemi now, LOT:

strengthens its presence in northern Europe, alongside the new year‑round Warsaw–Stavanger route ^[22]
taps into high‑yield, emotion‑driven winter leisure demand
positions Warsaw as a viable hub for families coming from Central and Eastern Europe — and even beyond — to reach Lapland via a single connection.

How LOT’s Rovaniemi flights can make Lapland holidays cheaper

The Mirror’s £500‑saving Lapland feature perfectly captures a shift in traveller behaviour: instead of buying expensive, rigid packages, more families are assembling their own “DIY Lapland” trips using a mix of scheduled flights, self‑booked accommodation and à‑la‑carte excursions.

LOT’s new schedule from Warsaw to Rovaniemi plugs neatly into that approach. Here’s how travellers can use it to lower their overall holiday cost:

1. Combine low‑cost or regional flights into Warsaw

For many Central and Eastern European cities, there are plentiful low‑cost or competitive fares to Warsaw. By:

booking a cheap positioning flight or train to Warsaw Chopin Airport, then
taking LOT’s direct service onwards to Rovaniemi,

travellers can often beat the price of “direct from home” charter packages that bundle everything into a single high markup.

2. Travel outside the absolute peak

LOT’s route runs from late November through early February, and fares outside the school‑holiday peaks typically drop, especially: ^[23]

in late November (just as Santa experiences ramp up, but before December rush)
in mid‑January, after New Year crowds thin out

Families willing to pull children out of school for a couple of days, or couples and adult groups with flexible schedules, can often save hundreds of euros or pounds by avoiding the busiest Saturdays of December.

3. Book flights and accommodation separately

The case study highlighted by the Mirror shows that constructing your own itinerary — even when it involves a bit more planning — can shave a sizeable chunk off the total bill. Typical tricks include:

choosing self‑catering cabins or apartments a short drive or bus ride from Rovaniemi rather than all‑inclusive Santa resorts
booking excursions (husky safaris, reindeer rides, snowmobile tours) directly with local operators instead of via a package mark‑up
travelling for 3–4 nights rather than 1–2 ultra‑intense days, spreading the cost over a slightly longer stay while getting more actual time on the snow

LOT’s site even nudges travellers in that direction by surfacing hotel, car rental and activity partners alongside the Rovaniemi flight search, effectively encouraging a build‑your‑own‑holiday approach. ^[24]

4. Take advantage of included baggage and flexible policies

Because LOT includes cabin baggage in all Rovaniemi fares and offers a 24‑hour free‑cancellation window on many tickets, travellers can: ^[25]

lock in attractive promo fares when they appear,
then shop around for accommodation and activities,
or cancel and re‑book if a better combination appears within a day.

What this means for families dreaming of Lapland in 2025 and beyond

For many households, a Lapland trip has the aura of a “bucket‑list Christmas” — magical, but eye‑wateringly expensive. Package prices often run into the thousands for a family of four, especially out of the UK and Ireland. TUI’s new Santa holidays to Arctic Lakeland, for example, are being marketed aggressively on value, with prices positioned up to a couple of hundred pounds lower than classic Lapland packages. ^[26]

LOT’s entry into the game doesn’t automatically make Lapland cheap. But it does:

add new seat‑only capacity during the busiest weeks
open a direct, mid‑length route from a major Central European hub
encourage competition with low‑cost carriers and charter operators already serving Rovaniemi

Taken together with DIY trip strategies like those highlighted in the Mirror, that gives budget‑conscious families more levers to pull:

choose a cheaper departure country (e.g. start your journey from Warsaw or another city with cheap access to Warsaw)
stay slightly outside the main resort zones
pick mid‑week travel dates
buy only the experiences you actually want, not a pre‑bundled set.

Practical booking tips for LOT’s Warsaw–Rovaniemi flights

If you’re thinking of using the new route to build your own Lapland escape, here’s a quick checklist:

Check fares for multiple dates
- Use LOT’s flexible‑date search around your preferred week. Even shifting by one day can significantly alter the fare level.
Look at connecting options via Warsaw
- If you’re starting in another city, compare:
  - a through‑ticket to Rovaniemi via Warsaw on one booking, versus
  - separate tickets into Warsaw and then the LOT segment.
- Through‑tickets cost more but come with better protection if something goes wrong.
Book core flights first, then layer on extras
- Secure your Warsaw–Rovaniemi sector while prices are good.
- Then add accommodation, car rental or transfers and activities from local providers.
Consider shoulder‑season magic
- Late November and mid‑January still offer snow, Santa and often Northern Lights — with fewer crowds and lower prices. ^[27]
Watch for airline promotions
- LOT frequently runs seasonal campaigns (Black Week, winter offers) where Rovaniemi appears among highlighted destinations, with attractive promotional fares from Poland and neighbouring markets. ^[28]

Outlook: Will Warsaw–Rovaniemi become a winter staple?

All signs suggest that if demand holds, LOT’s Rovaniemi experiment could evolve from a seasonal novelty into a regular winter staple. Finavia is investing heavily in Rovaniemi’s terminal and expects record passenger volumes, while airlines across Europe keep adding snow‑themed routes. ^[29]

For now, though, winter 2025/26 offers something new:

a direct, full‑service Warsaw–Rovaniemi flight,
timed to maximise weekend and short‑break trips,
launching into a market where savvy travellers are increasingly willing to assemble their own Lapland adventures to save serious money.

If a family Christmas under the Northern Lights has long felt out of reach, LOT’s new Rovaniemi service — combined with DIY planning tricks that have already helped some travellers shave hundreds off their bills — just brought that dream a little closer.