Finnish airport operator Finavia has released details of an eagerly anticipated public tender to appoint commercial operators at Helsinki Airport.

The public procurement exercise – the biggest of its kind at the terminal – covers 13 commercial lots for retail and F&B over 1,081sq m, including 12 at the new Terminal 2 non-Schengen area.

Five concessions available for premium retail (507sq m) join four spaces for high-end luxury retail (243sq m) and four F&B areas (331sq m).

Retail categories include jewellery, watches, sunglasses, leathergoods and fashion accessories, with premium shops and boutiques set to open in Summer/Autumn 2019 and Spring 2020 – ahead of the opening of the luxury retail units in Spring 2020 and 2021.

NON-SCHENGEN PAX FOCUS

Finavia is executing the tender, issued via Finland’s national procurement service Hilma on 18 June, in line with the EU Concessions Directive.

Elena Stenholm, Commercial Director and Vice President of Finavia at Helsinki Airport said: “The driving forces behind all commercial services at Helsinki Airport are high quality, diversity of offering and personal service excellence.

“As an international airport, we pay a lot of attention to the needs and preferences of many different nationalities, which is of particular relevance to the extending non-Schengen terminal, with its fast-growing Asian and European clientele.

“We also aim to create a true ‘Sense of Place’ and this will be clearly seen in the upcoming commercial offering as well as in visual, conceptual and digital solutions.”

Finavia, which runs 21 airports in Finland, is investing €1bn ($1.2bn) to expand the airport’s capacity to serve 30m passengers per year.

This will increase the terminal space by 45% to a total of 103,000sq m as part of a phased ‘one roof’ concept development programme that started in 2014 and aims to centralise all its operations.

Works cover the expansion of the terminal serving long-haul traffic or non-Schengen traffic and the expansion of the apron across the South pier, West Pier, Plaza and Border Control; upgrades to the T1 Schengen area of the airport due to open in 2019; and expansion at T2, which includes a new entrance boasting arrivals and departure halls (2020-2022).

[Click below for a fly-through of the planned facilities]

 

CENTRAL PLAZA IN 2019

Recognised as the Best Airport in Northern Europe by passengers at this year’s SKYTRAX World Airport Awards, Helsinki has built an enviable reputation as a leading global transit hub between Europe and Asia.

Last year, it served 18.9m passengers (+9.9%) and expects to hit 20m this year as it builds on direct connections to 20 Asia destinations.

Last July, the airport opened a new South Pier that delivered a total of 7,850sq m of space for passengers.

A large central Plaza located between the South and West Piers will next year act as the heart of the extension, boasting modern security facilities, shops, restaurants and new passenger services over an additional 25,000sq m of space. Additionally, it will act as a connection to the South Pier for arrivals passengers.

In tandem, the aforementioned extension at the end of T1 will open in 2019 featuring seven departure gates and approximately 3,500sq m of added space on two floors.

Meanwhile, the new entrance and T2 expansion will open between 2020 to 2022, adding a multi-modal travel centre to enhance terminal connections.

Stay close to TRBusiness for further reaction from Finavia…