Helsinki Airport

This article is about the main airport of Helsinki. For Helsinki-Malmi Airport, see Helsinki-Malmi Airport.

Helsinki Airport Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats
IATA: HEL – ICAO: EFHK
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Finavia
Serves		Helsinki
Location		Vantaa, Finland
Hub for		Air Finland Blue1 Finnair Flybe Nordic Nordic Global Airlines Norwegian Air Shuttle TUIfly Nordic
Elevation AMSL		55 m / 179 ft
Coordinates		60°19′02″N 024°57′48″E
Website		www.helsinki-vantaa.fi
Map
HEL Location within Finland
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
04R/22L	3,440	11,286	Asphalt
04L/22R	3,060	10,039	Asphalt
15/33	2,901	9,518	Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Passengers			14,865,871
Landings			95,312
Source: AIP Finland Statistics from Finavia

Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (IATA: HEL, ICAO: EFHK) (Finnish: Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, Swedish: Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats) is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region and the whole of Finland. It is located in Vantaa, Finland, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) west of Tikkurila, the centre of Vantaa, and 9.2 NM (17.0 km; 10.6 mi) north of Helsinki city centre. Originally built for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, the airport served 14,865,871 passengers in 2011 and it is the fourth largest airport in the Nordic countries.

The airport is operated by Finavia, the state-owned enterprise that operates Finland's airports. Helsinki Airport was chosen as the best airport in the world in the IATA 1999 survey on the topic. In 2006 the global airport customer satisfaction survey AETRA ranked Helsinki Airport one of the best airports worldwide and according to Association of European Airlines 2005 delay rates, Helsinki Airport was the most punctual airport in Europe.

The airport's three runways provide a platform for future growth while the airport can accommodate extra-wide aircraft such as the Airbus A340 and Airbus A350, the former already in service and the latter being scheduled to enter service at Helsinki Airport with Finnair in the coming decade. The airport is the international and domestic hub for Finnair, the Finnish flag carrier. It is also the hub for Blue1, the Finnish regional division of SAS. Air Finland and Flybe Nordic are based at Helsinki Airport as well. The use of three runways allows for efficient clearing away of snow and ice during the winter months to keep the airport open.

The Aviapolis is a new international business park adjacent to the Helsinki airport area, already hosting the operations of numerous companies around the airport. Several hotels are located near the airport as well. Construction of a train link, Kehärata, to the centre of Helsinki began in the spring of 2009 and the line is planned to go into operation in 2014. The Finnish Aviation Museum is located near the airport.

On 25 November 2008, Finavia opened a wireless network free of charge at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

Terminals

The airport is nominally divided into 2 terminals, located 250 metres (820 ft) apart and linked by an internal pedestrian connection both airside and landside. In practice, however, the airside parts of the terminal buildings are not divided into terminal 1 (the former domestic terminal) and terminal 2 (the former international terminal) but to Schengen and non-Schengen areas. The non-Schengen area of terminal 2 is under enlargement and will be ready by the end of 2009, enabling the airport to receive eight wide-body aircraft at the same time, compared to the current five wide-body gates (of which only two are suitable for Finnair's new Airbus A340).

Airlines and destinations

Finnair planes on the apron at Helsinki

Helsinki Airport during the winter

Helsinki Airport's runway 33

Terminal 2

Finnair lounge at Terminal 2

Finnair Embraer 190 aircraft at the airport

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Aer Lingus	Seasonal: Dublin	2
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo	2
Air Åland operated by Nextjet	Mariehamn	2
airBaltic	Riga	1
Air Berlin	Berlin-Tegel, Düsseldorf	2
Air Finland	Alicante, Málaga Seasonal: Antalya, Chania, Dubai, Funchal, Gazipasa-Alanya, Larnaca, Las Palmas, Rhodes, Tenerife-South	2
American Airlines	Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare	2
Belavia	Minsk	2
Blue1	Brussels [ends 26 February], Copenhagen, Kuopio, Nice, Oslo-Gardermoen, Oulu, Stockholm-Arlanda, Vaasa, Zürich [ends 24 March] Seasonal: Athens, Bologna [begins 2 June], Budapest [begins 2 June], Dubrovnik, Edinburgh, Kittilä, Kuusamo, Marseille, Pula, Rovaniemi, Split	1
Blue1 operated by Golden Air	Kuopio, Oulu, Vaasa	1
British Airways	London-Heathrow	2
Bulgaria Air	Seasonal: Bourgas, Varna	2
Corendon Airlines	Antalya, Dalaman	2
Czech Airlines	Prague [ends 24 March]	2
Estonian Air	Tallinn [begins 26 March 2012]	1
Finnair	Amsterdam, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Barcelona, Beijing-Capital, Berlin-Brandenburg [begins June 3], Berlin-Tegel [ends June 2], Brussels, Budapest, Chongqing [begins 9 May 2012], Copenhagen, Delhi, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Ivalo, Joensuu, Kiev-Boryspil [ends 11 March 2012] , Kittilä, Kuopio, Kuusamo, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Málaga, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Munich, Nagoya-Centrair, New York-JFK, Osaka-Kansai, Oslo-Gardermoen, Oulu, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, Rovaniemi, Saint Petersburg, Shanghai-Pudong, Seoul-Incheon, Singapore, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stockholm-Bromma [ends 29 February], Tokyo-Narita, Vaasa, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw, Yekaterinburg, Zürich Seasonal: Bergen, Dubai, Dubrovnik [begins 2 April 2012], Kraków, Ljubljana, Murmansk, Nice, Toronto-Pearson, Venice Marco-Polo	2
Finnair operated by Flybe Nordic	Dusseldorf, Geneva, Hamburg, Joensuu, Kajaani [ends 29 February 2012] , Kuopio, Manchester, Riga, Stockholm-Bromma [begins 1 March], Stuttgart [ends 29 February 2012] , Tallinn, Tampere, Turku, Vaasa, Vilnius, Warsaw Seasonal: Kuusamo	2
Flybe operated by Flybe Nordic	Gdańsk, Jyväskylä, Kajaani [begins 1 March], Kemi/Tornio, Kokkola/Jakobstad, Mariehamn, Norrköping, Pori, Savonlinna, Seinäjoki, Skellefteå, Tartu, Trondheim, Umeå, Varkaus Seasonal: Enontekiö	2
Gotlandsflyg operated by Golden Air	Seasonal: Visby	1
Icelandair	Reykjavík-Keflavík	2
Japan Airlines	Tokyo	2
KLM	Amsterdam	2
KLM operated by KLM Cityhopper	Amsterdam	2
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw	1
Lufthansa	Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 3 June 2012], Düsseldorf [begins 25 March 2012], Frankfurt, Munich	1
Nordavia	Arkhangelsk, Murmansk	2
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Barcelona, Copenhagen, London-Gatwick, Málaga, Oslo-Gardermoen, Oulu, Paris-Orly [begins 20 April], Rome-Fiumicino, Rovaniemi, Stockholm-Arlanda Seasonal: Alicante, Chania, Corfu [begins 24 June], Ivalo, Kittilä, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Nice, Palma de Mallorca [begins 27 May], Rhodes [begins 25 June], Split, Tenerife-South	2
Qatar Airways	Doha [begins 16 July]	2
Rossiya	Saint Petersburg	2
RusLine	Petrozavodsk	2
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen [ends 29 February], Stockholm-Arlanda [ends 29 February]	1
TAP Portugal	Lisbon	1
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk	2
Ukraine International Airlines	Kiev-Boryspil	2

Charter airlines

Air Finland Winter seasonal: Geneve, Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Salzburg, Sharm el Sheikh, Summer seasonal: Bourgas, Faro, Hurghada, Milas-Bodrum, Samos

Finnair Summer seasonal: Antalya, Bastia, Billund, Brindisi, Burgas, Catania, Corfu, Chania, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Enfidha, Faro, Funchal, Heraklion, Innsbruck, Jerez de la Frontera, Kavala, Kos, Larnaca, Limnos, Mahon, Malta, Nice, Ohrid, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Ponta Delgada, Preveza, Reus, Rhodes, Rimini, Santorini, Skiathos, Varna, Verona, Zakynthos
Winter seasonal: Aqaba, Arrecife, Bridgetown, Cancún, Cartagena, Colombo, Dubai, Eilat-Ovda, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Goa, Ho Chi Minh City, Holguín, Hurghada, Innsbruck, Krabi, Langkawi, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Mombasa, Monastir, Panama City, Paphos, Phuket, Puerto Plata, Sharm el-Sheikh, Salzburg, Tenerife-North, Tenerife-South, Varadero

Freebird Airlines Summer seasonal: Antalya

Norwegian Air Shuttle Summer seasonal: Catania, Corfu, Kefalonia, Larnaca, Palma de Mallorca Winter seasonal: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tenerife-South

Nouvelair Summer seasonal: Djerba
Winter seasonal: Monastir

Primera Air Summer seasonal: Burgas, Chania, Varna
Winter seasonal: Eilat-Ovda, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Hurghada, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tenerife-South

Sun Express Summer seasonal: Antalya, Izmir

Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia Summer seasonal: Chania, Funchal, Hurghada, Kos, Larnaca, Palma de Mallorca, Preveza, Rhodes, Varna
Winter seasonal: Banjul, Funchal, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Phuket, Tenerife-South

Thomson Airways Winter seasonal: Phuket

TUIfly Nordic Summer seasonal: Antalya, Bourgas, Chania, Dalaman, Faro, Heraklion, Larnaca, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes, Samos
Winter seasonal: Arrecife, Boa Vista, Krabi, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Phuket, Sal, Tenerife-South

Cargo airlines

Airlines	Destinations
Aeroflot-Cargo	Moscow-Sheremetyevo
Avies	Tallinn
DHL Aviation	Leipzig/Halle
DHL Aviation operated by Exin	Tallinn
FedEx Express	Copenhagen
Finnair Cargo operated by Nordic Global Airlines	Hong Kong, Mumbai, Seoul-Incheon
Finnair Cargo operated by World Airways	Frankfurt, New York-JFK, Shanghai-Pudong
TNT Airways	Liège
UPS Airlines	Cologne/Bonn, Malmö, Stockholm-Arlanda
West Air Sweden	Copenhagen

Handling agents

The following handling agents provide full ground handling services for airlines [1]:

• Airpro
• Inter Handling
• ISS Aviation
• Northport
• Servisair
• Ready to go
• Havaş

Statistics

Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737-800 in 2011

American Airlines Boeing 767-300ER in 2011

Passengers

Annual passenger statistics for Helsinki Airport

Year	Domestic passengers	International passengers	Total passengers	Change
1999	2,803,907	6,760,931	9,564,028	+2.2%
2000	3,042,914	6,967,234	10,010,148	+4.7%
2001	2,999,672	7,031,246	10,030,918	+0.2%
2002	2,747,862	6,862,025	9,609,887	−4.2%
2003	2,684,618	7,026,302	9,710,920	+1.1%
2004	2,836,852	7,893,125	10,729,977	+10.5%
2005	2,804,304	8,326,285	11,130,589	+3.7%
2006	2,927,627	9,220,154	12,147,781	+9.1%
2007	2,875,289	10,215,455	13,090,744	+7.8%
2008	2,700,350	10,726,551	13,426,901	+2.2%
2009	2,372,844	10,218,762	12,591,606	−6.3%
2010	2,208,521	10,674,878	12,883,399	+2.2%
2011	2,707,044	12,158,827	14,865,871	+15.5%

Freight and Mail

Loaded/Unloaded freight and mail (tons, kg) Helsinki Airport

Year	Domestic freight	Domestic mail	International freight	International mail	Total freight and mail	Change
2005	4,692	5,251	115,734	9,627	135,303	+1.9%
2006	4,145	5,469	126,332	9,098	145,044	+7.2%
2007	3,171	5,676	139,840	14,961	154,801	+6.7%
2008	2,968	4,435	140,572	9,532	157,508	+1.8%
2009	1,322	2,161	110,382	8,243	122,107	−22.5%
2010	1,083	1,992	147,139	7,793	158,007	+29.4%
2011	615	2,230	157,178	9,962	169,985	+8.0%

Other operations

Finnair head office, Tietotie 11

Finnair's head office is located in Tietotie 11 on the grounds of Helsinki Airport. The company moved the head office there from central Helsinki in 1994. The company held a "house-warming" ceremony on 11 January 1994. The head office of Finavia, the company that manages Finland's airports, is located on the grounds of the airport. Other airlines with head offices on the grounds of the airport include Air Finland and Blue1.

Ground transportation

Rail

Tikkurila Railway Station

Connecting the airport by frequent local bus 61 of Helsinki Regional Transport Authority or taxi to the Tikkurila railway station provides access to commuter trains as well as to long-distance trains in the directions of Tampere and Lahti, including lines to Saint Petersburg and Moscow. Bus number 540 connects to Espoo railway station in the direction of Turku.

The construction of the Ring Rail Line rail link to the airport was started in May 2009, with an opening for traffic projected for mid-2014. The new railway will serve local commuter trains running at 10-minute intervals at peak periods. The trip from an underground station under the current airport terminal building to the Helsinki Central Station will take about 30 minutes. Passengers will be able to make the connection to and from long-distance trains at Tikkurila, an 8-minute journey away from the airport on the future rail connection.

Bus

An ExpressBus coach in Helsinki

There are regular bus service 615 to the Helsinki Central railway station in 30–55 minutes, and major hotels and railway stations in the Greater Helsinki Area in 15–120 minutes. The chief operator of these services is Helsinki Regional Transport Authority under the "HSL" brand. A direct luxury coach service by Finnair is also available to and from the city center (usually about 30 min).

Coach connections, daytime and overnight, to all parts of Finland are provided by Matkahuolto and ExpressBus. They depart from airport coach terminal.

See also

• List of the largest airports in the Nordic countries

External links

• Helsinki airport – Airport homepage in English
• AIP Finland – Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
• Accident history for HEL at Aviation Safety Network