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. It provides jobs for 20,000 people and there are 1,500 companies who operate from this airport.
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. Low cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle 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.
Read more about Helsinki Airport: Terminals, Airlines and Destinations, Other Operations
Famous quotes containing the word airport:
“It was like taking a beloved person to the airport and returning to an empty house. I miss the people. I miss the world.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)