The first post car started operating on the Oulu-Kuusamo line in 1921. However, the post car was not enough to transport the rapidly growing freight traffic, so more robust operators were needed.
Viljami Kantola founded his own transport company in Kuusamo in 1960.
Kantola started freight liner service to Helsinki, transporting export cheeses from Kuusamo Osuusmeijeri dairy. The first bus license for Kantola was granted in December 1960 and it entitled to operate with one truck twice a week from Kuusamo to Helsinki.
Along with the Kantola family, the Koramo family developed the professional traffic.
In 1967, timber was driven to the Virranniemi sawmill (Pölkky Oy) located in Kantojoki. The eldest of Sulo’s sons, Jouni and Jorma Koramo, joined the company’s operations in 1968, and in the same year they started driving timber for Kuusamo’s collective forest.
In 1982, the Koramo brothers bought a share of Kantola, and the operations were combined. The name of the company became Kuljetusliike Kantola & Koramo Ay. In 1992, the Koramo brothers bought Kantola’s share in the company and the corporate form was changed to a limited company.
Air traffic to Kuusamo started in 1972, when the first station air traffic control building was commissioned.
The passenger terminal was completed in 1988, the runway was extended to 2 500 meters in 1997, and in 2005 Kuusamo Airport received international airport status.