The next phase of Finavia’s huge investment at Helsinki Airport will begin when the airport’s Terminal 2 check-in and arrivals halls and public transport connections are revamped.

 

Elena Stenholm, Vice President Commercial Services, for Finavia Corporation’s Helsinki Airport told TRBusiness at the end of last year that the company will tender retail space for Terminal 2’s new West Wing this year and will also directly approach retailers with particular appeal to Asian passengers.

 

As reported, construction on Helsinki Airport’s new €300m ($334m) West Wing in Terminal 2 began in the last quarter of 2016 as part of a wider €900m airport expansion programme launched in 2013.

 

At the beginning of 2020, a completely new area serving air passengers will be completed in front of the current terminal.

 

COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION

The terminal expansion will in the future house the check-in, security control, baggage drop and an area for greeting passengers.

 

 

The current departure and arrivals halls of Terminal 2 will undergo a complete transformation and become part of the gate area. This means the airport will have plenty of more space for passengers and more opportunities to make its service offering more diverse.

 

Finavia organised an architectural competition for the expansion of Terminal 2, and the results of the competition were published on 5 June 2017. ALA Architects’ proposal called City Hall was chosen as the winner. The working group also included Arkkitehtitoimisto HKP and Ramboll Finland.

 

CONSTRUCTION TO START IN 2018

The impressive wooden roof and the central square in front of the new terminal will become landmarks of the airport. Inspiration for the roof was Tapio Wirkkala’s Ultima Thule sculpture that is made of plywood used in airplanes.

 

 

The chairperson of the competition’s board and Airport Director Ville Haapasaari from Finavia describes the winning design, City Hall, as an entity ‘with memorable and open architecture’.

 

“Over the years, Helsinki Airport has been built piece by piece, and the different sections of the terminal represent design and architecture from different decades. City Hall combines all of these into one impressive entity that creates a smooth passenger path from the terminal doors all the way to the airplane seat,” says Haapasaari.

 

“The renewing Helsinki Airport also provides an excellent service experience for passengers arriving in Finland and a positive first impression of our country,” says Haapasaari.

 

The expansion will be built where the current parking hall P1/P2 stands. The entrance to the expansion will be completed with a square in front of the terminal. The construction work will begin at the earliest after summer 2018.