Helsinki airport turns 70 amidst an era of uncertainty
Picture: Finavia
Helsinki airport turns 70 this week!
A curious fact I didn’t know is that the airport was “pre-inaugurated” on 5th July 1952 so that it could be used by delegations and public attending the Olympic Games, which took place in the Finnish capital that summer. the airport was opened temporarily for one month and half before getting closed again to complete the works and reopening, this time for good, towards the end of October of the same year!
Picture: Finavia
In any case, did I mention that Helsinki Vantaa is one of my favourite airports?
Despite not being huge (21.8M passengers in 2019) - or perhaps because of this! - Helsinki has a lot going for it:
I remember once landing there in the morning after having transited a super busy Chicago O’Hare a few hours earlier and it felt like stepping into a spa! I guess it just got better after the very recent opening of the new and cool terminal 2!
It is also one of the airports in the world that takes sustainability more seriously, about this you can check this piece I did a while ago for CNN (the article focuses on Oslo, but there are some mentions to Helsinki’s sustainability efforts too)
It is home to Finnair, an airline that I have got the chance to fly quite a few times and review accordingly (and, which, by the way, will turn 100 next year!):
Finnair A350 business class flight review (check the lounge review with Finnish sauna included!)
Norra (Finnair’s regional subsidiary) E190 business class flight review
This anniversary (and Finnair’s, which next year will become a centenarian!) comes at a time of uncertainty, since the closure of Russian airspace following the invasion of Ukraine and the ultra-restrictive covid measures in China and other Asian countries have seriously impacted what used to be the bread-and-butter for both Helsinki airport and Finnair: acting as a gateway between Europe and Asia.
Hopefully it will recover soon from this setback while keeping all of its usual charm!