The airline had previously replaced its midday flights to the two cities with coach services in an effort to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions on the routes.
Perttu Jolma, a director at Finnair, said that the flights produced more carbon dioxide emissions per passenger than many other short routes in the network, making road and rail transport the more sustainable link between these cities and Helsinki Airport.
The flights have scheduled flight times of 35 minutes, with the actual flight time 10 minutes shorter.
Globally, flights as short as these are typically not flown except for regions where the terrain is rough and the flights go over a sea area or mountainous terrain, for example, the airline said in a press release.
Minna Arve NCP, the mayor of Turku, said on Wednesday that she was stunned by the short-sighted decision, even though the flights had clearly been of secondary importance to the airline for several years.
The flights have often been cancelled and trust in the company has thereby eroded for a long time, she said. We at Turku Airport still have good connections with Air Baltic, Wizz Air and SAS. The transfer links between Turku and Helsinki make it possible for people to fly to Helsinki.
This is a very short-sided position to take specific in the sense that Finland is an island. We are far away from the world, and we have few fixed connections to Europe. We are now strengthening our western connections, also from other localities than Helsinki, he said. In that sense discussion about the profitability of short flights is possibly misguided, she said, Helsinki Airport is very important for the growing urban areas.