Finavia has recently completed its largest expansion project to date, the redevelopment of the Helsinki Airport (IATA: HEL, ICAO: EFHK). With a total investment of more than one billion euros over ten years, Finavia transformed Helsinki Airport into one of Europe’s premier airports.
The modernized airport can now accommodate 30 million passengers annually. Its new design highlights Finnish expertise in terminal architecture, material choices, and service offerings.
“Helsinki Airport, opened for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, was constructed piece by piece over decades, with different parts of the terminal representing the design and architecture of different decades. Now, all functions and services have been brought under one roof. This enables a world-class customer experience, keeps distances within the airport short and makes all services easily accessible,” said Kimmo Mäki, CEO of Finavia.
Finavia’s development program has led to a 45% increase in the terminal’s floor area, allowing for the introduction of new and modern airport facilities for passengers. Finavia also renovated the departure and arrival halls, transitioning the airport into a single-terminal model. The security control, shops, restaurants, services, parking, and public transportation arrangements have been modernized and updated, too.
Thanks to the development program, Helsinki Airport offers an improved selection of shops and restaurants. In the summer and autumn of 2023 alone, nearly twenty new commercial units opened, increasing the terminal’s retail space to a total of 29,000 square meters (+3,000 m2).
The new travel center provides convenient connections to various modes of transportation, allowing seamless access to Helsinki city center and other parts of Finland. It connects local and long-distance bus services, the Helsinki metropolitan area commuter train service, a taxi station, and the airport’s parking areas.
Finavia received approximately 9.6 million euros in funding from the EU to plan and implement this transportation hub.
The international airport organization ACI (Airports Council International) recognized Helsinki Airport as the best airport in Europe in its size category in June 2023. The selection criteria included sustainability efforts, operational efficiency, innovation, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In addition to the massive construction project, we have also achieved our ambitious customer satisfaction goal. The airport’s operations continued as usual throughout the development programme, and at the same time, the passengers’ positive customer experience improved amidst the construction. Customer satisfaction with Helsinki Airport was already at a high level before the start of the development programme, and I am very pleased that it has continued to rise,” concluded Kimmo Mäki.