According to Finavia Corporation’s passenger statistics, international transit traffic in January–August at Helsinki Airport grew by 8.2 per cent compared with the same period in 2012. In all, there were almost 1.4 million international transit passengers.
The number of passengers transferring from one international flight to another grew particularly strongly in the first part of the year, rising to almost 1.1 million in January–August. In July and August, the number of passengers transferring between international flights grew as much as one fifth compared with the corresponding period in the previous year.
“The positive development of transit traffic gives us a number of reasons to be happy. It demonstrates that Helsinki airport has a good opportunity to grow into an even more significant international passenger traffic hub. Our successful investments in developing Helsinki Airport as a leading transit airport and our new connections to Asia, such as the Japan Airlines route between Helsinki and Tokyo and Finnair's routes to Xi'an in China and Hanoi in Vietnam have supported the growth of passenger flows,” says Ville Haapasaari, director of Helsinki Airport.
“Helsinki Airport’s success as a transit airport supports the whole business community of Finland in the form of direct routes to Asia and connecting flights to Europe. The strong development of transit traffic at Helsinki Airport also supports the funding of Finavia’s air navigation business and airport network.
Helsinki Airport once again among the best airports in Europe
Competition between international airports is getting increasingly stiff and Finavia has developed Helsinki Airport services to become ever smoother, with a long-term focus. The airport is also being increasingly developed as a shopping centre which provides the passengers with individual service and shopping opportunities.
These investments have borne fruit, since Helsinki Airport retained its position as a high-quality transit airport in its comparison group during the second quarter of the year in an international passenger satisfaction survey by Airport Service Quality.
“An example of our continuous work to make travel even smoother is the renewal of the display system at Helsinki Airport terminals. We will make travelling even easier, with approximately one hundred new, larger displays, which, for example, will shorten the time required for transferring between flights. In addition, we will add new languages to the system in order to better serve especially Asian transit passengers. An increase in the number of passport control machines will also improve the service of international transit passengers,” says Haapasaari.
“We are especially glad that the development of transit traffic and Finnish air traffic seem increasingly bright. If realised, the EUR 200 million capital appropriation proposed in the supplementary central government budget would provide a good foundation for the expansion of Helsinki Airport as an international air traffic hub long into the future,” concludes Haapasaari.
In this release, ‘international transit passenger’ refers to a passenger transferring from a domestic or international flight to an international connecting flight.
