Helsinki Airport Prepares for New Rail Connection

Helsinki Airport will soon welcome a new rail connection, renovate of one of its three runways and prepare for future stages of the Helsinki Airport development programme.

"Helsinki Airport’s large-scale development programme continues to advance in 2015. Launched in spring 2014, the programme aims for a major overhaul of the airport’s services, facilities and traffic arrangements," said Airport Director Ville Haapasaari and SVP of Finavia Corporation.

The extensive development programme will increase the airport’s passenger capacity to 20 million by 2020. Helsinki Airport has already established itself as the leading transfer hub in Northern Europe; last year, the airport’s passenger numbers exceeded 16 million for the first time. In coming years, the airport is looking for growth in the increasing traffic between Europe and Asia.

One of the biggest and most anticipated changes in 2015 is the new rail connection from the airport to central Helsinki.

"Opening in July, the rail connection will bring passengers to Helsinki’s Central Railway Station in 30 minutes. The new Ring Rail line will make it a convenient connecting point also for passengers arriving by train from St Petersburg in Russia," said Haapasaari.

The construction of new parking spaces is also currently underway. The expansion of the P5 parking garage will bring almost 3,000 new parking spaces to the airport. The expansion work will be completed in summer 2016.

Improvements to airport infrastructure also continue in the coming year. During the summer months, the airport’s runway 1 will undergo a complete renovation. The work will be carried out in May-July, and with two of the airport’s three runways in use, it is expected to bring little change to the airport’s operations.

As the development programme advances, it will bring changes to the airport’s terminal structure. The airport’s terminal building will be expanded by 80,000 square metres. Two extensions will be built, both of them becoming expansions of the current long-haul section at Terminal 2.

To meet the needs of growing transfer traffic, eight new jet bridges for wide-body aircrafts will be constructed. After the expansion, Helsinki Airport will have 16 jet bridges for wide-body aircrafts.

Expanding the terminal under one roof will enable the airport to retain its unique character, efficiency and passenger-friendly layout. Work on the expansion is estimated to begin during 2016, with planning and preparatory carried out this year.