Aviation has long traditions in the Jyväskylä Region. In the region, you cannot avoid experiencing aviation in different ways. The history of aviation is on display in museums and exhibitions. A tourist can sit in the cockpit of an aircraft in a simulator or get a bird’s eye view of the Jyväskylä Region from a hot air balloon. Jyväskylä Airport, the Defence Forces’ flight exercises and the Finnish Air Force’s aerobatics team bring the soundscape of aviation into the lives of tourists and locals in the Jyväskylä Region.
From the Karhumäki brothers to Finnair
The history of aviation in the Jyväskylä Region has its roots in the Multia-born brothers Niilo, Valto and Uuno Karhumäki. The Karhumäki brothers were pioneers of Finnish aviation, building their own aircraft. They started operations from Keljo in Jyväskylä, introduced aerial photography and built an aircraft factory at Halli in Jämsä in the early 1940s. Veljekset Karhumäki Oy was one of the first holiday or charter flight companies in the world. The names Karhumäki Airways and later Kar-Air Oy were used in air transport. Veljekset Karhumäki Oy sold more than 50% of the company in 1963, when the aircraft repair shop and passenger flights were taken over by Aero Oy, now Finnair.
Land in the Jyväskylä Region
Travellers can reach the Jyväskylä Region by air. Jyväskylä Airport has a long history as a military airport and even today, training flights of the Air Force Academy are a big part of the airport’s operations. Aeronaut, Finland’s oldest company offering hot air balloon rides, and the Finnish Air Force Museum are located near the airport. The Air Force Museum, a partner of the Military Museum, displays aircraft from the early 1900s to post-war jets, several scale models and two flight simulators, not forgetting the museum’s souvenir shop and café. The museum can also arrange private functions and activities all year round.
If your journey continues from Tikkakoski to northern Central Finland, from 2023 onwards you can experience unique special accommodation in a SAAB 340B turboprop aircraft at Uurainen. The plan is to build a suite with a view in the cockpit and an aircraft sauna in the hold. Other accommodation and social facilities will also be built in a separate adjacent building. Follow this unprecedented project with us!
Aviation can also be experienced in southern Central Finland at Halli in Jämsä. The buildings at Veljekset Karhumäki Oy’s former aircraft factory serve as Veljesten Wanha Konttori (brothers’ old office). Veljesten Wanha Konttori tells the history of the aircraft industry, the Karhumäki brothers, aerial photography and charter flights, including the development of Halli as an aviation destination. The exhibition’s collections contain approximately 40,000 aerial photographs from different decades. You can buy aerial photographs in postcard size from the souvenir shop attached to the exhibition.
Halli in Jämsä also houses the Hallinportti Aviation Museum, which has its roots in the old Air Force Technical School and Aircraft Technology Guild’s exhibition on aircraft in Kauhava. Both moved to Halli and the Aviation Museum was opened at its current location in 1980. The museum consists of an arched hall, a small exhibition space and a library and office building. The museum displays aircraft and engines, air force uniforms from different eras and other flying equipment. Hallinportti Aviation Aviation Museum and Veljesten Wanha Konttori are open during the summer and, during the winter, by pre-booking.
If you visit the Jyväskylä Region in summer or winter, you can experience aviation and get to know the regions culture and range of events. Around 6,000 events are held in the region every year, one of the most important of which is the World Championship Secto Rally Finland. During the rally, you can also watch the amazing exploits of the Midnight Hawks aerobatics team. The Midnight Hawks is the aerobatic team of fighter pilot instructors of Fighter Squadron 41, based at Tikkakoski. Come to the Jyväskylä Region and experience the many dimensions of aviation!
The history of aviation at the museums and exhibitions of the Jyväskylä Region, such as the Karhumäki brother and the Midnight Hawks Air Force fighter squadron.
