Helsinki Airport expanding to serve 20 million passengers

Finavia, the Finnish airport operator, has unveiled ambitious plans for a 900 million euro expansion to Helsinki Airport in order to serve 20 million passengers by 2020. Construction will begin in 2018.

Helsinki Airport’s new entrance: Finnish design at its best
Terminal 2 at Helsinki Airport is to see further expansion in the form of a new entrance thanks to investment by Finavia. At the beginning of 2020, a completely new area serving air passengers will be completed in front of the current terminal.The aim of Finavia’s development programme, worth 900 million euros, is to strengthen the position of Helsinki Airport as a significant airline hub between Europe and Asia.

Highlights of the expansion

  • The terminal will be expanded by a total of 103,000 square metres, resulting in a total terminal area of more than 250,000 square metres by 2020.
  • The expansion will allow the airport to serve 20 million passengers annually by the year 2020.  
  • The number of bridge gates for wide-body aircrafts will be doubled from 8 to 16

  • Baggage handling capacity will increase by 50 per cent
  • The aircraft apron and taxiways will be renovated over an area of 330,000 square metres. 

Architectural competition

Finavia, with part funding from the EU’s CEF programme, organised an architectural competition for the expansion of Terminal 2, and the results of the competition were published on 5 June 2017.The objective was to generate architectural ideas for the expansion of Terminal 2 and also for the airport’s regional plan.  The new terminal entrance will include an impressive wooden roof and a central square.Helsinki Airport plaza“Helsinki Airport is already an important European air traffic hub and also one of the largest bus and train interchanges in Finland, offering road and sea links to Russia, Tallinn and the Nordic and Baltic countries,” said Finavia’s airport director, Ville Haapasaari.

Ambitious plans

The terminal expansion will in the future house the check-in, security control, baggage drop and an area for greeting passengers. The current departure and arrivals halls of Terminal 2 will undergo a complete transformation and become part of the gate area, enabling the airport to serve up to 20 million passengers annually by 2020.  “The renewing of Helsinki Airport provides an excellent service experience for passengers arriving in Finland and a positive first impression of our country,” said Mr Haapasaari.The construction work will begin in late 2018.  For related news and features, visit our Business Travel section.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online DirectoryClick to get to the Relocate Global Online Directory  Get access to our free Global Mobility Toolkit Global Mobility Toolkit download factsheets resource centre

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