| Helsinki Airport (Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema)Helsinki AirportHelsinki-Vantaa Airport or in Finnish: Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, in Swedish: Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats (IATA: HEL, ICAO: EFHK), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport serving Helsinki, the capital of Finland, as well as its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region in Finland. The airport is located in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) west of Tikkurila, the administrative centre of Vantaa and 9.2 NM (17.0 km or 10.6 mi) north of Helsinki's city centre. The airport is operated by state-owned Finavia. The facility covers a total of 1,800 hectares (4,448 acres) of land and contains three runways. The airport is by far the busiest in Finland (with 20 times the traffic of the next-busiest, Oulu) and the fourth busiest in the Nordic countries in terms of passenger numbers. About 90% of Finland's international air traffic passes through Helsinki Airport. In 2022, Helsinki Airport had a total of 12.9 million passengers, 87% of whom were international passengers and 13% domestic passengers. On average, the airport handles around 350 departures a day. The airport is the main hub for Finnair, the flag carrier of Finland, and its subsidiary Nordic Regional Airlines. It is also a hub for CityJet (on behalf of SAS) and an operating base for Jettime, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Sunclass Airlines and TUI fly Nordic. Helsinki Airport has around 50 regularly-operating airlines. The airport has around 80 scheduled destinations to other parts of Europe and 21 direct long-haul routes to Asia, the Middle East, and North America. There are also 35 charter destinations including numerous long-haul charter destinations. Originally built for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, the airport today provides jobs for 25,000 people and there are 1,500 companies that operate at this airport. Finavia aims to strengthen the position of Helsinki Airport in transit passenger traffic between Europe and Asia, and to increase the number of direct connections to Europe. Helsinki Airport's minimum transit time of 35 minutes is among the shortest in Europe. According to Finavia's survey, as many as one in every three passengers select their flight route based on the transit airport. Helsinki Airport History Significant Growth and Expansion (2010–present) During the 2010s, Helsinki Airport experienced large increases in the number of annual passengers. In 2010, the airport handled 12,883,399 passengers, an increase of 2.2 percent compared to 2009. Air freight increased by 29.4 percent. In April 2010, Norwegian Air Shuttle opened its first routes to Oslo and Stockholm using Boeing 737 jets. Now the airline is one of the largest operators at the airport with almost 40 destinations in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In 2011, Helsinki Airport saw its biggest growth in a single year in the number of passengers. The number of annual passengers was increased by 2 million passengers and the airport reached the milestone of 14 million passengers. However, easyJet canceled three routes, from Helsinki to Manchester, London–Gatwick, and Paris–Charles de Gaulle, citing weak demand at Helsinki. In November 2011, Austrian Airlines canceled its Vienna–Helsinki operations. In the same year, Czech Airlines ceased its Helsinki operations due to low demand. A year after, LOT Polish Airlines canceled its service to Helsinki. In 2014, a number of airlines such as Aer Lingus, Germanwings, and S7 Airlines canceled services to Helsinki. In the 2010s, the airport saw a huge growth of long-haul flights in terms of weekly flights. In the beginning of 2015, the renovation and construction work related to the development of Helsinki Airport started. For example, the Baggage Claim Hall 2B and Arrival Hall 2A were renovated and in July 2015, train operation on the Ring Rail Line and connection to Helsinki central railway station were opened. In March 2015, Swiss International Air Lines started operations to Helsinki but canceled it a year later. In late 2015, Blue1 ceased all operations from Helsinki which was the airline's only base. The airline flew to 28 destinations in Europe. Scandinavian Airlines sold Blue1 to CityJet, which continues to operate the company on behalf of SAS as part of a larger relationship. In 2015, the airport handled up to 16 million passengers for the first time. In March 2016, Czech Airlines resumed flights from Prague to Helsinki using Airbus A319 aircraft. On 10 October 2016, the first Gulf carrier Qatar Airways began operations at the airport and now operates to Helsinki by Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The carrier was initially planning to launch the service as early as 2012. Finavia expects that the airport will handle over 18.5 million passengers in 2017 and around 20 million in 2018, or in 2019 at the latest. Also in 2017, the airport experienced huge growth in numbers of passengers flying intercontinental. As of 2013, Finavia has been expanding the airport (see Future expansion below). Life in HEL (#lifeinhel) was a Finavia marketing campaign which took place from 10 October to 9 November 2017 at Helsinki Airport. The campaign mixed TV, game shows, and social media. Ryan Zhu, a Chinese actor and TV personality, lived in a little cabin inside Helsinki Airport for 30 days. Helsinki Airport was awarded the title of best airport in the world by Travellink, by the campaign, Finavia wanted to prove this claim. A free-of-charge film theatre named Airport Cinema was opened near gate 33 in November 2018. A new terminal expansion was opened in 2012. The terminals 1 and 2 were combined on 21 June 2022 so that all flights are now operated from a single terminal. Helsinki Airport Construction Projects In spring 2010 a new baggage handling centre utilising the latest technology was taken into use at the airport, concentrating all handling of departing and transferring baggage. Handling of arriving baggage remains at its current handling facility. The parts of the airport that were completed in 1969 and 1983 were thoroughly renovated. Basic repairs were completed in 2012. Runway 3 (22R/04L) was repaired from April to June 2012, during which time the runway was out of use. After this the taxiway next to runway 2 (15/33) was repaired, during which time runway 2 served as a temporary taxiway. The repairs were completed in September 2012. The main runway 04R/22L was repaired in summer 2015 and was reopened in early August. The Helsinki Airport Station was opened on 10 July 2015. The Ring Rail Line connects the Helsinki–Riihimäki Railway in the north with the Vantaankoski railway in the west. The trip from the airport to the Helsinki Central Station takes about half an hour, and the trip to Tikkurila railway station takes about ten minutes. The Helsinki Airport Station was built underground between the parking garages P3A and P1/P2. The station has a walking connection to the connecting corridor between terminals 1 and 2. Expansion of the terminals started in early 2016 from the southern wing of the long-distance flight area, which was completed in summer 2017. After this, construction of the western wing was started, which was completed in autumn 2019. Expansion of terminal 1 was also started in 2017, giving the terminal an additional 3,500 square metres of floor area. Terminal 1 was lengthened by 230 metres and gained seven new departure gates. As part of the development program, a new parking garage was also opened, with a connection to the terminal. The new parking garage is equipped with solar panels, and it has an area for recharging 200 electric cars. The development program also included about 2000 new parking places. Expansion of the terminal is undergoing to the north of the terminal building, including expansion of the number of commercial services, gates and docks for airplanes. The expansion also includes improvement of passenger connections to the terminal. The expansion was taken into use in late 2021. The undergoing development program is scheduled to be completed in 2023. Before this, new lobbies for departing and arriving passengers and a connecting travel centre were taken into use. Also the old departure lobby of Terminal 2 will be changed into part of the Schengen gate area, expanding the size of the area considerably. During New Year 2020 to 2021 a three-year repair project of the station level was completed, not included in the development program. The purpose of the repair project, which cost 32 million euro, is to ensure the safety of taxiing and parking the airplanes and to improve the capacity and effectiveness of air traffic. The infrastructure of the station level will be modernised, allowing a further decrease of environmental impacts of air traffic. A two-part Avia Pilot building with 13 floors was built within walking distance of the terminal, with Finavia as its main tenant. In early 2018 a new Scandic Hotels hotel with 148 rooms was opened in the building. This is the third hotel in the immediate vicinity of the airport. The airport has one terminal. The terminal capacity of the airport is approximately 16–17 million passengers per year. Domestic flights, as well as flights to European Schengen countries, are operated from gates 11–34. Long-haul and European non-Schengen flights are operated from gates 34–55. In 2014, Helsinki Airport introduced the world's first passenger tracking system, which automatically monitors crowd congestion and prevents bottlenecks at the airport. The airport's signage is in English, Finnish, Swedish, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. Current terminal (former Terminal 2) opened in 1969 for international operations and, at present, also serves domestic flights. The non-Schengen area of the terminal was enlarged in 2009 enabling the airport to accommodate eight wide-body aircraft at gates simultaneously while a new shopping area and a spa were opened for passengers on long-distance flights, and the division between domestic and international flights was removed. Terminal 2 has many restaurants, bars and shopping areas. The terminal is equipped with 26 aircraft parking stands with passenger bridges. The terminal has a train connection to Helsinki central railway station. Passenger facilities include numerous tax-free shops, Avis, Europcar and Hertz-car rentals, free wireless Internet access, power sockets, lockers, sleeping pods and transfer service desks. Currency exchange, cash machines (ATM), tourist information and an Alepa grocery store and pharmacy are also available. For children, there are also several playrooms. Dining facilities include Burger King and O'Learys Sports Bar as well as numerous other restaurants and cafés. Terminal 2 also includes two Finnair lounges: Finnair Lounge in the Schengen-area and Finnair Premium Lounge in the non-Schengen area. As a part of Helsinki Airport's expansion plan, the new South Pier was inaugurated in June 2017 and Aukio in February 2019. The new pier features moving walkways and dual boarding jet bridges to enable handling larger aircraft more efficiently. In November 2019, the West Pier opened and it is able to accommodate the Airbus A380 superjumbo. Five of the gates are able to accommodate two regional jets, such as Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s, simultaneously at a single gate. Passengers arriving and departing are divided into two floors: one for arriving passengers, the other for departures. In June 2016, the new bus terminal for remote aircraft stand operations was opened to increase the airport's capacity with gates 50A-M. Helsinki Airport Other Buildings There are several airport hotels and office buildings on the grounds of the airport. The Aviapolis is a new international business park adjacent to the Helsinki Airport area, already hosting the operations of numerous companies around the airport. In 2013, Finnair opened its new head office, known as House of Travel and Transportation, or "HOTT". The construction of HOTT began in July 2011 and finished on time in June 2013. Helsinki Airport Ground Handling Airpro, Aviator, and Swissport provide ground handling services for airlines. Helsinki Airport Operations Helsinki Airport Passenger Operations Helsinki Airport is connected to over 140 destinations worldwide and over 50 countries by passenger services. Helsinki Airport has around 50 airlines operating regularly. In addition, there are numerous charter airlines operating at the airport. The airport is the main hub for Finnair, that operates over 1100 flights weekly to Europe, Asia, and North America. The airport is also used as an operating base for Norwegian Air Shuttle, and the low-cost airline operates over 230 flight weekly to elsewhere in Europe as well as the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. Helsinki Airports Main Airlines The following airlines maintain hub or base operations at Helsinki Airport: Finnair is the largest airline operating at the airport, with an all-Airbus fleet of 48 aircraft (excluding Norra) based at Helsinki, providing scheduled services to the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North-America. Finnair operates flights from Helsinki to over 100 destinations, including around 20 intercontinental routes. All flights are operated from Terminal 2. Jet Time is a charter airline that operates several flights from Helsinki to Europe. Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra) is a subsidiary of Finnair that operates to around 30 destinations in Europe. Norra has a fleet of 23 ATR and Embraer aircraft, all operated for Finnair. This airline operates from Terminal 2. Norwegian Air Shuttle is a low-cost airline which operates to over 30 destinations from Helsinki to Europe and the Middle East, operating from Terminal 2. The airline is the biggest operator at the airport after Finnair (including Norra) and has served over 10 million passengers since 2010. SunClass Airlines uses Helsinki Airport as a focus city with many charter flights to Southeast Asia and Europe. The airline operates from Terminal 2. TUI fly Nordic is a charter airline that operates to Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean in North America. The airline operates from Terminal 2. On 10 September 2018, TUI announced plans to close its Helsinki base in the near future with Jet Time taking over the company's short-haul operations at the airport. Passenger numbers have been growing rapidly since 2010, but especially since 2014. In 2017, Helsinki Airport experienced the third highest growth rate and the second biggest increase in passenger numbers in the last 20 years. On 13 December 2017, the airport reached the milestone of 18 million passengers for the first time ever. Helsinki Airport Cargo Operations Helsinki Airport has been one of the busiest airports among the Nordic countries by freight handled. In 2012, the airport handled 192,204 tonnes cargo making the airport the largest one in the Nordics in terms of tonnes of cargo handled that year. Helsinki Airport has extensive cargo flight activity. There is a cargo area with cargo terminals and cargo transit facilities in the southeastern part of the airport area. ASL Airlines Belgium (formerly TNT Airways) and DHL have their own cargo terminals at the airport. Currently scheduled cargo operating airlines are AirBridgeCargo Airlines operated with Boeing 747 cargo aircraft, ASL Airlines Belgium, DHL Aviation (operated by EAT Leipzig and DHL Air UK), FedEx, UPS Airlines, and Turkish Airlines that operates cargo services to HEL from Istanbul, Oslo, and Stockholm with Airbus A310F and A330F aircraft. In addition to scheduled cargo operations, many other cargo airlines have random operations at Helsinki Airport. The construction of a new freight terminal (35,000 m2 or 380,000 sq ft) began in March 2015 and was inaugurated on 8 January 2018. The capacity of the terminal is 350,000 tonnes but the theoretical capacity is up to 450,000 tonnes. The freight capacity of the airport is being expanded to accommodate the growing freight capacity that will be provided by Finnair's Airbus A350 XWB fleet. Finnair's freight operations continued in the previous location until relocation to the new freight terminal in December 2017. The name of the new terminal is Cool Nordic Cargo Hub, but is branded COOL for its modern technology and capacity to handle high volumes of temperature-controlled cargo. A new operations monitoring and tracking platform, "Cargo Eye", is used in the new freight terminal. That gives the new Cargo Control Center a live view of what is happening across the cargo network and where everything is located. The terminal has 29 stands for truck transports. Helsinki Airport Long-Haul Traffic The airport saw its first long-haul route on 15 May 1969 when Finnair commenced flights to New York City via Copenhagen and Amsterdam. The first non-stop route to East Asia was commenced in 1983 with Finnair's flight to Tokyo, with Beijing following five years later. Today 36 intercontinental routes to North America, Asia, and the Middle East operate from Helsinki Airport. Long-haul traffic is a major part of the airport's traffic much of it supported by Finnair, the largest carrier at the airport. Helsinki Airport is an important transfer airport between Europe and Asia. In 2018, Helsinki Airport handled approximately 3.7 million transfer passengers, which is 21.0% more than in 2017. At the beginning of 2018, over 140 weekly flights were flown directly from Helsinki to Asia. Asia is the largest long-haul market in both number of destinations and weekly frequencies. Finnair and Japan Airlines had long been the only carriers flying to Asia from Helsinki, but in 2019, Tibet Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Sichuan Airlines launched non-stop flights from Jinan, Shanghai and Chengdu respectively. As of November 2019, the airport has direct connections to 7 destinations (8 airports) in China, namely Beijing (Capital and Daxing), Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Jinan, and Xi'an. Finnair also operates 14 weekly flights to Hong Kong. In addition to China, Japan is a notable market for the airport to which there are flights to five destinations as of December 2019 and in March 2020, flights to Tokyo Haneda commence. India has been connected to the airport since 2006 by direct flights to Delhi. Recently, more flights have been added to traffic between the Middle East and Helsinki. In 2016, Qatar Airways launched daily flights from Doha and now operates 14 weekly flights to Helsinki. In 2018, flydubai began flights from Dubai. North America has usually been a much smaller market than Asia for Helsinki Airport. However, during the decade, the market has grown and route launches to destinations such as Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have been made. American Airlines opened a connection to Chicago in 2011. In 2015, Finnair discontinued its seasonal route to Toronto–Pearson, but commenced flights to Chicago, followed by San Francisco two years later. As of March 2019, Helsinki Airport is connected to 5 destinations in the US and 3 destinations in Latin America. Helsinki Airport Ground Transport The airport is located in the immediate vicinity of Ring III and Finnish national road 45. The railway running beneath the airport in a tunnel is connected to the Helsinki Commuter Rail. Helsinki Airport Rail The railway link to the airport opened for traffic in July 2015 and serves local commuter trains running at 10-minute intervals during peak periods. On evenings the train run every 15 minutes and at quieter times every 30 minutes. The railway is trafficked by low-floor Stadler FLIRT trains, operated by the VR Group. The westbound commuter line "I" runs to Helsinki Central Station via Huopalahti, while the eastbound commuter line "P" runs to Helsinki Central Station via Tikkurilas. Eastbound trains stop at Tikkurila where passengers can transfer to long-distance trains going away from Helsinki, in the directions of Tampere and Lahti, including lines to Saint Petersburg and Moscow. The P service is not in service through the night. Bus lines 562N to Tikkurila railway station and 615 to downtown Helsinki provide night service to and from the Airport. Plans also exist for a direct connection between Helsinki Central, the airport, and the long-distance rail network via Kerava. This line, known as Lentorata, is projected to run in a tunnel for most of its approximately 30 km length. Helsinki Airport Taxi Taxi ranks are located outside Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Since 1 January 2022, contracted Taxis at the Helsinki Airport are operated by Mankkaan Taksi Oy, Taksi Helsinki Oy and Menevä Oy. Other Taxi companies can also provide their services, with the customer negotiating the transport price themselves. Helsinki Airport Bus There is regular bus service by bus line 600 from the airport to Helsinki central railway station (mainly through the Tuusulanväylä) and to railway stations in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. The chief operator of these services is the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL). Coach connections to all parts of Finland are provided by Matkahuolto and ExpressBus. Means of Transport at Helsinki Airport Means of Transport Operator Route Destinations Bus Helsinki Regional Transport Authority 415N, 431N, 562, 570, 600
There are also daily bus connections to the Helsinki Airport from Turku and Tampere. Helsinki Airport Parking In August 2016 there were about 13 thousand parking spaces at the Helsinki Airport. Some of the spaces were taken out of use in January 2019 when the parking garage P1/P2 located near the terminal was dismantled to make way for the new entrance to the airport. The airport has two parking garages (P3 and P5) as well as two outdoor parking areas (P4A and P4B). The free-of-charge bus service AirPortBus operated by Finavia travels between the parking areas and the terminal. There are also companies providing airport parking services near the airport, where passengers can leave their cars in a guarded area and get transport to the airport. Helsinki Airport Overview Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats IATA: HELICAO: EFHK Helsinki Airport Airport Type: Public Helsinki Airport Owner/Operator: Finavia Helsinki Airport Serves: Helsinki Metropolitan area Helsinki AirportLocation: Aviapolis, Vantaa, Finland Helsinki Airport Opened: July 1952 Helsinki Airport Hub For: Finnair Norra Helsinki Airport Elevation AMSL: 55 m / 179 ft Helsinki Airport Coordinates: 60°19′02″N 024°57′48″E Helsinki Airport Runways: Direction Length Surface: m ft 04R/22L 3,500 11,483 Asphalt 04L/22R 3,060 10,039 Asphalt 15/33 2,901 9,518 Asphalt Helsinki Airport Helipads: Number Length Surface: m ft H16/H34 310 1,017 Asphalt Helsinki Airport Passengers: 15,313,355 Helsinki Airport Passenger Change: 22-23 Increase 18,9% Helsinki Airport Landings: 34,653 Helsinki Airport Cargo (metric tonnes): 171,198 |
