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The construction site at Helsinki Airport will swallow up a large chunk of the area in front of a terminal: changes to Helsinki Airport’s taxi and bus traffic

Press release
Article published
11.4.2019 at 11:57
Travel
The huge construction site in front of Terminal 2, covering an area equivalent to nearly three Esplanadi parks in Helsinki, will expand as the summer approaches. Consequently, public transport at Helsinki Airport will be rearranged in April and May.

– The routes of the airport’s buses and taxis will change and the bus stops will be relocated by the beginning of June. The arrangements are due to the ongoing extension of Terminal 2 of Helsinki Airport. Among other things, the airport will get a multimodal travel centre that enables developing trip chains and planning improved public transport connections, says Landside Director Jukka Isomäki at Finavia, who is responsible for the ground traffic at Helsinki Airport.

Carried out in three stages, the bus and taxi arrangements concern traffic at Terminal 2. These temporary arrangements will be in place for a couple of years until the magnificent entrance of Helsinki Airport with its new arrivals and departures halls is completed in 2021. The new indoor car park will be completed as early as next year.

The changes taking place now do not affect parking customers or train customers or the vehicle traffic at Terminal 1.

– Before arriving at the airport, we recommend checking travel updates for Helsinki Airport on the Finavia website. In addition, passengers are instructed to arrive at the airport early. They should make sure they have time to reach the terminal and make it to their flight on time, Isomäki notes.

The Terminal 2 taxi station will relocate on 15 April

The current taxi station in front of Terminal 2 at the arrivals level will be relocated to the terminal’s ground floor. Passengers will access the new taxi station from the terminal via an escalator in Arrivals hall 2A or by taking the lift down one level to floor P.

Passenger walking towards taxi rank.

Picture: Taxis are now located in the ground floor of the terminal.

The bus station and disabled taxis will relocate on 15 May

The bus arrivals and departures platforms of Terminal 2, as well as the waiting area for disabled taxis, will move from its current location by approximately 100 metres towards the airport’s office buildings in front of the Scandic hotel.

The pickup and drop-off points for hotel and parking operator shuttle buses are located opposite the WTC building (Lentäjäntie 3), in front of the P5 parking garage.

The bus station’s escalator will be completed in May, and the escalator will provide easy access to the check-in floor in Terminal 2.

Buses will access the Terminal 2 bus station via Teletie-Lentäjäntie instead of Terminaalitie as before.

bird's eye view of new bus station.

Picture: The new bus station moved approximately 100 metres to its current location.

Passenger drop-off in front of the main entrance of Terminal 2 will end on 23 May

The ramp leading to the main entrance of Terminal 2 will be demolished during the summer, and the area in front of the check-in can no longer be accessed by car from 23 May onwards. Instead, taxis and passenger cars can drop off passengers one floor below.

A new drop-off zone will be opened, with an escalator connection to the check-in area. Stopping briefly at the drop-off zone for dropping off passengers is allowed but parking is not permitted.

People who are accompanying—or especially meeting—passengers can park in the short-term P3 parking area. Using the parking spaces costs EUR 1 for every 10 minutes, which amounts to EUR 6 per hour. Exiting the parking area is free of charge within 10 minutes of entering.

Map of Helsinki airport's outdoor areas.

What is the reason for the changes in front of Terminal 2?

The changes to driving routes and bus stops taking place in April and May are part of the expansion of Terminal 2 and related to Finavia’s EUR 1 billion development programme at Helsinki Airport.

The rearrangements introduced now will mostly be completed by the end of June when the construction project will enter a more permanent stage. No other major changes are expected at this point.

Finavia’s investment program in brief

  • The floor area of Helsinki Airport’s terminals will increase by 45% (103,000 m2), corresponding to an area the size of the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki. The total area of the terminals in the early 2020s will be more than 250,000 square metres.
  • More bridge gates for airplanes: 8 gates for wide-body aircraft (an increase of 100%), 4 gates for narrow-body aircraft (an increase of 15%)
  • Luggage handling capacity increased by 50%
  • Passport control capacity increased by 50%
  • Renovated apron area (aircraft parking areas and taxiways) amounts to 450,000 m2, corresponding to an area of around 90 football fields.
  • Expansion of parking hall P5 (3,000 parking spaces) and a new parking hall (1,800 parking spaces)
  • A multimodal travel centre, linking together different modes of transport
  • Finavia’s investment: about EUR 1 billion
  • Employment impact of the investment programme during construction 14,000 person-years
  • Growth of air traffic creates 5,000 new permanent jobs

Read more about Helsinki Airport's Development Programme.

This is how the airport changes.

Download Helsinki Airport's map.

T2-expansion boilerplate