Severe Arctic weather hit Finnish Lapland just as the post-Christmas ski rush peaked, and Switzerland’s flag-carrier found itself at the centre of the chaos. On December 27, 2025, Swiss International Air Lines flight LX8904 from Geneva touched down safely at Kittilä Airport but slid off an icy taxiway while making the slow journey to the stand. No one was injured, yet the Airbus A220-300 (registration HB-JCM) became embedded in a snowbank, immobilising the jet and blocking key ground routes. Within minutes, a Czech-registered business jet suffered an almost identical excursion.
The twin incidents forced airport operator Finavia to declare a “major field emergency”. All movements were suspended while ten rescue units stabilised both aircraft, checked for fuel leaks and towed them clear. Flights already airborne were diverted, and dozens of departures were cancelled, stranding travellers across the region. According to preliminary data, more than 5,000 passengers – many of them Swiss families and corporate groups headed for Levi and Ylläs – missed onward rail and coach connections.
For Swiss International Air Lines the timing could hardly be worse. Winter services to Kittilä have become a lucrative niche for the carrier, feeding the Finnish ski economy and corporate off-sites. The loss of one aircraft and the knock-on crew-rostering fallout forced the cancellation of the return sector to Geneva and a long-haul rotation to New York, prompting a ripple of reaccommodation costs. Travel-management companies are already advising clients to build bigger buffers into Lapland itineraries and to avoid tight same-day meetings on arrival.
![Swiss A220 Skids Into Snowbank in Finnish Lapland, Triggering Holiday Flight Disruptions]()
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Investigators from the Finnish Safety Investigation Authority (SIAF) will focus on taxiway braking-action reports, the accuracy of friction measurements and whether the cross-wind limitations of the A220 were effectively communicated. Swiss, for its part, has sent an operational recovery team to Kittilä and says it will review winter-operations guidance with flight crews. The carrier stressed that the incident underscores the importance of robust contingency planning when operating to small Arctic airfields where a single closure can paralyse the network.
From a wider mobility perspective, the event highlights the vulnerability of Europe’s seasonal point-to-point routes. As niche leisure destinations court more direct international flights, they must also scale emergency resources proportionally. Companies sending staff to remote winter venues should confirm that their duty-of-care programmes include alternate routing, local medical coverage and accommodation guarantees if extreme weather hits.
The twin incidents forced airport operator Finavia to declare a “major field emergency”. All movements were suspended while ten rescue units stabilised both aircraft, checked for fuel leaks and towed them clear. Flights already airborne were diverted, and dozens of departures were cancelled, stranding travellers across the region. According to preliminary data, more than 5,000 passengers – many of them Swiss families and corporate groups headed for Levi and Ylläs – missed onward rail and coach connections.
For Swiss International Air Lines the timing could hardly be worse. Winter services to Kittilä have become a lucrative niche for the carrier, feeding the Finnish ski economy and corporate off-sites. The loss of one aircraft and the knock-on crew-rostering fallout forced the cancellation of the return sector to Geneva and a long-haul rotation to New York, prompting a ripple of reaccommodation costs. Travel-management companies are already advising clients to build bigger buffers into Lapland itineraries and to avoid tight same-day meetings on arrival.
Travel documents can be another hidden bottleneck when schedules unravel. VisaHQ’s intuitive platform helps travellers secure Schengen visas, passport renewals and transit permits for Switzerland and countless other destinations in advance, so they face fewer surprises if weather or operational issues strike. Find out more at https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/.
Investigators from the Finnish Safety Investigation Authority (SIAF) will focus on taxiway braking-action reports, the accuracy of friction measurements and whether the cross-wind limitations of the A220 were effectively communicated. Swiss, for its part, has sent an operational recovery team to Kittilä and says it will review winter-operations guidance with flight crews. The carrier stressed that the incident underscores the importance of robust contingency planning when operating to small Arctic airfields where a single closure can paralyse the network.
From a wider mobility perspective, the event highlights the vulnerability of Europe’s seasonal point-to-point routes. As niche leisure destinations court more direct international flights, they must also scale emergency resources proportionally. Companies sending staff to remote winter venues should confirm that their duty-of-care programmes include alternate routing, local medical coverage and accommodation guarantees if extreme weather hits.
