Helsinki’s Airport Development Programme continues despite COVID-19

Finavia has adjusted its operations due to COVID-19, including closing terminal areas, services and runway 3 at Helsinki Airport. However, the Helsinki Airport Development Programme is set to continue.

The development programme is a long-term investment to provide passengers with a good level of service and offer airlines the capacity they will need in the future.

A large square-shaped departure hall of the new Terminal 2 will include six separate departure areas.

“The departure areas could be described as islands. When you enter the departure hall, there will be two islands on both sides. You can find the remaining two islands when you walk towards the security control area,” said Martti Nurminen, Project Director of the Helsinki Airport Development Programme.

The Terminal 2 departure hall will have 86 check-in desks and points, with four points located near every island for special baggage; increasing capacity and flexibility.

“Using a single departure hall creates an opportunity for the efficient joint use of check-in desks and points. Flexibility makes it possible to change the way the facilities are used in the future. The security control process also becomes faster and more efficient as we introduce new technology,” said Nurminen.

Nurminen also praised the new departure hall’s architecture in addition to its functionality: “The massive wooden eave of the terminal’s entrance continues inside as a wooden suspended ceiling. I believe that it will become one of the landmarks in the history of modern Finnish architecture.”

Helsinki Airport currently has three separate baggage reclaim halls that passengers use depending on where they are coming from. The new Terminal 2 will only have a single baggage reclaim hall where passengers pick up their baggage.

Some of the baggage conveyor belts will be built in a new way, which also makes it easier for passengers to pick up their baggage. Passengers will be able to walk around the conveyor belts.

The extension of Terminal 2 is progressing as planned. A facade is being installed on the eight-storey parking garage that will be completed in 2020. The building will be covered with solar panels that support Finavia’s sustainability and environmental goals.

A horizontal tunnel towards the Ring Rail Line is being excavated, and another pedestrian bridge for passengers is also being built over the Ring Rail Line.

The development programme began in 2013 and it is meant to be completed in 2023. The work has progressed on schedule and on budget, and 70 per cent of the entire programme has been completed at this point.