Helsinki Airport (IATA: HEL, ICAO: EFHK; Finnish: Helsinki lentoasema, Swedish: Helsingfors flygplats), alternatively referred to as Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region (including Espoo). The airport is located in the neighboring city of Vantaa. The airport is operated by state-owned Finavia. Helsinki Airport consistently ranks among the best airports in the world and serves around 350 flights a day to locations around the world. For more details, please refer to the official website: https://www.finavia.fi/en/airports/helsinki-airport?navref=airport-select
The airport is the main hub for Finnair, the flagship carrier of Finland, and its subsidiary Nordic Regional Airlines. It is also a hub for CityJet (on behalf of SAS) and an operating base for Jet Time, Norwegian Air Shuttle, SunClass Airlines, and TUI fly Nordic. Helsinki Airport has around 50 regularly operating airlines. The airport has around 80 scheduled destinations to other parts of Europe and 21 direct long-haul routes to Asia, the Middle East, and North America. There are also 35 charter destinations including numerous long-haul charter destinations. Currently, Helsinki Airport has two terminals with a total of 50 gates with jet bridges and 80 remote aircraft parking stands.
Helsinki city center is 19 km from the Helsinki airport in Vantaa. The trip takes about 20 minutes by car.
Helsinki Airport’s train station is located in the Arrivals Hall on floor 1. Local trains I and P operate between Helsinki Airport and the city center on the Ring Rail Line every 10–20 minutes. The journey takes 30 minutes. To travel to Helsinki City Centre, you need the “ABC” zone ticket. Local train tickets can be purchased from HSL’s mobile app (4.10 Euros), or from the ticket machine at the train platform or sales points like R-kiosks. Timetables, tickets, and fares for local trains can be found on HSL.fi.
Important information on tickets – tickets bought at machines require no validation since they are in paper form. R kioski tickets, however, require validation when you enter the train (just show your ticket to the blue card reader).
Helsinki Airport’s bus station is located outside the Arrivals Hall. Buses operate around the clock. Bus 615 (“Lentoasema-Rautatientori”) and night bus 415/415N (“Lentoasema-Elielinaukio”) operate between the airport and city centre. The travel time is about 40 minutes, and you need the “ABC” zone ticket. Tickets can be purchased online on HSL’s mobile app (4.10 Euros), or at the bus station’s ticket machine or sales points like R-kiosks. Read more about tickets and fares from HSL.fi.
Important information on tickets – You need to show tickets bought at machines to the driver for validation since they are in the paper form. R kioski tickets, however, require automatic validation when you enter the bus (just show your ticket to the blue card reader).
Helsinki Airport’s taxi stations are conveniently located outside the terminal (follow the taxi sign). Various taxi agencies operate between the airport and Helsinki city center. It costs approximately 40-45 euros to reach the conference venue and 35-40 euros to reach Helsinki city center from the airport. There are separate queues for the different taxis at the airport. Reliable taxis are Helsinki taksi, Fixu taxi, Lahi taxi.
You can ask for a fixed fare (35 euro) to reach Helsinki city Centre.
At Helsinki Airport, there is a taxi station in front of Terminal 2. It is located outside next to the Arrivals Hall of Terminal 2. The taxi station is meant for picking up passengers from the airport. Passengers may be dropped off in front of the Terminal 2 main entrance on the Departures level.
There is also a taxi station in front of Terminal 1. You may pick up or drop off passengers at this taxi station. Access to the taxi station is from the pick-up area via Rahtitie. Exit will be via Rahtitie and Parkkitie onto Terminaalitie.
It is possible to pre-book a taxi to pick you up from the airport. The pre-booked taxis can be found in the taxi station of Terminal 2, outside the Arrivals Hall on floor 1.
There are daily ferry services to Helsinki from Tallinn, Estonia by Tallink Silja Line (https://en.tallink.com/book-a-cruise), Viking Line (https://www.vikingline.fi/), and Eckerö Line (https://www.eckeroline.fi/) and to Stockholm, Sweden by Tallink Silja Line and Viking Line. Helsinki can also be reached by ferry from Germany by Finnlines (https://www.finnlines.com/ferry-trips). All the ferry companies also offer the possibility to take a car with you. Information on the different passenger terminals can be found on the Port of Helsinki website: https://www.portofhelsinki.fi/en/passengers.
All Helsinki ports are suitable for international cruise ships. Most of them are easy to reach on foot, by public transport, taxi, shuttle buses, or sightseeing buses. For further details, refer to the Port of Helsinki website.
Trams are a convenient way to get to ferry terminals:
West Terminal (Länsiterminaali): trams 6T and 7
Olympic Terminal (Olympiaterminaali): trams 2 and 3
Katajanokka Terminal (Katajanokan terminaali): tram 5
There are several car rentals at Helsinki Airport. Their service desks are located in the Arrivals Hall, next to parking information. You can rent a car beforehand.
Helsinki and Espoo have excellent public transport systems consisting of buses, commuter trains, trams, metro, city bikes, and Suomenlinna ferry (you can use the same ticket on all public transports).
YOU CAN MOVE BETWEEN ALL CONFERENCE VENUES AND RECOMMENDED HOTELS WITH AN AB ZONE TICKET: You can find more information on zones at: https://www.hsl.fi/en/tickets-and-fares/hsl-area-and-zones
There are several ticket options available for visitors from internal and regional single tickets to day tickets. Single tickets can be purchased from ticket machines, R-kiosks and other HSL sales points or by using HSL mobile application. On buses you can also buy your ticket from the driver.
Practicalities on tickets – tickets bought at machines require no validation since they are in paper form. R kioski tickets, however, require validation when you enter a tram or enter the metro platform. (just show your ticket to the blue card reader in the tram. Please note that the blue card readers are installed at the entrance of metro trains and you would need to validate your tickets before entering the metro platform.)
For more details and fares:
Journey Planner:
Trams are the main mode of public transport in the inner city of Helsinki. Tram tickets can be purchased from a ticket machine (single ticket €2.80, 1-day ticket €8). A great way to experience the city is to hop on tram 2 or 3.).
The metro line stretches from Vuosaari and Mellunmäki in East Helsinki, via Helsinki city center to Matinkylä in Espoo. Metro tickets can be purchased from ticket machines at the metro stations before you go down the escalators (single ticket €2.80 for AB zone, regional ticket €4.60–6.50). You can find more information on zones at: https://www.hsl.fi/en/tickets-and-fares/hsl-area-and-zones
There are 4600 yellow bikes in 460 stations around Helsinki and Espoo available for residents and visitors alike from April to October.
More details and prices:
https://www.hsl.fi/en/citybikes/helsinki
Helsinki is a compact city to explore on foot, as most of the sights are within convenient walking distance of the city center. Pick up the new “4 Walking Routes in Helsinki” brochure from the Tourist Information. Available in 11 languages.
Taxis can be ordered by phone, by applications, from taxi stands or hailed from the street. Taxis are available whenever the yellow light on the roof is on. Both cash and credit cards are accepted.
(Source: Information compiled from https://www.finavia.fi/en/, https://www.myhelsinki.fi/en, https://www.visitespoo.fi/en/)