Atol Aurora
Still, like many amphibious aircraft manufacturers worldwide, Atol faced challenges. Financial difficulties delayed the project, but now, with backing from visionary Swedish investors - and pilots - Andreas Svensson and Oskar Samuelsson, Atol Aviation is finally taking off with the fully refined Atol Aurora.
In the photo below, Andreas (left) and Oskar (middle) are with Atol Aviation's Procurrement and Supply Chain Manager Andreas Sirén at AERO2025.
Atol 650 LSA
The entirely revamped, heavier, and larger Atol 650 LSA made its first flight in April 2015. Together, the original Atol and the new Atol accumulated over 1,000 flight hours, proving Koivurova’s vision correct.
The name "ATOL" stands for "Amazing Take-Off and Landing," and the aircraft lived up to that promise. Its super-light, rigid structure delivered an industry-leading 270 kg useful load, the new Rotax engine provided exceptional power and endurance, and the ergonomically designed cabin and instrument panel delighted both pilots and passengers.
Atol ultralight
The plane first emerged as an ultralight waterplane in 1988. Although it flew exceptionally well, the project faced an immediate headwind: a storm destroyed the prototype in its hangar in 1989, and in the early 1990s, Finland’s financial turmoil forced also the company behind Atol into liquidation.
A decade later, airline pilot Anssi Rekula partnered with Koivurova to develop a modernized version of the original Atol.
Roots in the Finnish Lapland
The new Atol Aurora LSA amphibious aircraft traces its roots back to 1988 and boasts over a thousand flight hours on its preceding development models.
The aircraft was originally designed by Markku Koivurova, an aviator and engineer from Rovaniemi in Lapland, as an easy-to-fly and affordable flying boat for travelling across lake-rich Finland.
The key innovation in the Atol lies in its novel use of plywood and wood in aircraft construction: the surface panels are made of 0.4–0.8 millimetre plywood with a core of 5–10 millimetres of PVC foam, pressed together under vacuum in a mold – in a similar way as composite parts are cured in autoclaves – and cut to size using a water jet. The water jet creates an ideal surface on the wood by opening its cellular structure. As a result, the plywood and wood components are inherently rigid and lightweight.