HELSINKI VANTAA AIRPORT review : 29 September 2008 : by Johan Mateia

Customer Rating : 5/5

Bright, Efficient and clear design. Very intuitive layout. Total opposite to US airports.

HELSINKI VANTAA AIRPORT review : 12 September 2008 : by P Vasava

Customer Rating : 5/5

I have used Helsinki airport about 12 times in 3 years. Lately its getting more people but its still not as crowded as Frankfurt or Paris. Security check is very fast. Passport control can take some ime (probably due to construction work). I think once the extended terminal is in use it will be nice. Staff is very friendly and co-operative. Toilets are clean and airport is clean. Connections to Helsinki are very good with Finnair and local buses. Long distance buses can be taken right outside airport. All missing is a metro line to Helsinki.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by C McCafferty

23 April 2008   Customer Rating : n/a

Used HEL over a weekend recently. Upon arrival I found the layout a little confusing – our flight from LHR couldn’t use the Schengen gates so we were bussed to an alternative, but it was a little unclear how to get to passport control once in the terminal. However, once through our bags arrived reasonably swiftly, and the Finnair bus can be found just outside the international terminal – just €5.90 into the city, good value. On the way back check in was a breeze using the common check in machines, there was only one person queuing ahead of me for the 4 Finnair bag drop desks and security took all of 3 or 4 minutes to get through – impressive! Airside seemed quite crowded, but the terminal building is nicely designed with good views of the airfield and a selection of eating and drinking options, although the shopping area felt very claustrophobic. Passport control and gate staff were friendly and efficient. A pleasant experience all round.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Richard Bevan

7 February 2008   Customer Rating : n/a

What used to be a nice and peaceful airport is getting crowded. Car parks start to fill up. Corridors especially are overcrowded, not helped by the shops taking up 25% of the corridor with stuff placed outside the shop. Baggage halls really too small for a mid-size airport like this. At least it's not a long walk to the car and most car parks are within walking distance of the terminal.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Marybeth Richards

13 May 2007   Customer Rating :

Like Jussi Turunen I found the Security check points staffed by unfriendly, unhelpful persons who took the view that the rules and regulations were in place and must be adhered to to the letter. I was told over and over 'the bag must seal' as I was trying to do so - evidently a pot of yoghurt is a potential risk and had to be placed in with my few liquid items. Very frustrating. Aside from that, Vantaa is an exceptionally pleasant airport to use, with the majority of staff helpful and friendly. I went to the Finnair lounge in the Schengen area (although I was travelling to the UK) and told that the lounge in the nonSchengen area was much nicer, although I was welcome to use either. Finnair coaches are just a few steps from the terminal building, and like almost everything else in Finland, run to schedule.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Matt Ray

10 May 2007   Customer Rating :

Very airy, bright and modern airport. Very quiet as well, which is most unusual for an airport too. But we did have a rather hard time finding anyone who spoke English when we were trying to arrange a ride to our hotel which I thought was so strange. The ticket agent seemed befuddled and the van driver was totally at a loss. And they had never heard of our hotel which is one of the top hotels in the city. Maybe we Californians talk funny or something!

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Jussi Turunen

3 March 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

The new hand luggage rules regarding liquids and the new Shengen department seem to have made visiting HEL a bit more complicated. Security personnel seemed very unfriendly and stuck to the rules with almost unbelievable vigour. I had one bottle of mouthwash in its bottle which was 200ml size yet the contents were below half i.e. under 100ml. This was confiscated never the less. They were very unfriendly about it. One could feel they got pleasure out of being as unfriendly as possible. The flight in docked into a gate yet pax were made to get off the back door of a plane and walk into a bus (in -20 C) and then taken on a mysterious ride to get off in the same building! The Shengen area was in chaos on return with several delayed flights. No information board in the unusually nicely furnished smoking area. HEL used to be wonderful to pass through but felt chaotic with unfriendly aloof staff this time.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Nigel Barnsley

19 January 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

I've transferred here twice in the last two weeks and have been impressed by the user friendly layout, friendliness of the staff and the clean, modern design - great wood block floors. It's one of the few airports that has a sense of identity and individuality and there are some interesting shops and a couple of good places for a snack and a drink apart from the inevitable Starbucks.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Edward Martin
22 October 2006

I must agree with the majority of posters here- flying out of Vantaa is a delight. On a recent flight to Stockholm (24 Sept) I had one person ahead of me at check in and security was a breeze as well. The girl who checked me into my flight was possibly the most cheerful agent I've ever dealt with in an airport. The terminal- while small- is modern and immaculate with a good amount of shopping and a great duty free shop as well. An added perk is the smoking lounge with an entire wall of glass overlooking the runways- a rarity even in Europe these days.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by M Knuuttila
5 July 2006

In many respects, I find HEL to be the efficient and aesthetically pleasing experience promoted by several other posters here in Skytrax. (I have still yet to see more efficient luggage handling and security arrangements anywhere else.) However, the increasing passenger numbers at this airport have started to affect the convenience that I have been taking for granted for the past few years. The international (Schengen) shopping arcade is frequently very crowded. This is a problem because the shopping arcade is the also the primary transfer route, especially from the domestic gates to the non-Shengen international gates. Furthermore, the number of domestic and international flights arriving at stands away from the terminal has increased, requiring slow bus transfers to and from the terminal. Because of these issues, the 45 minute minimum transfer time between domestic and international flights is starting to look too short. Finnair (who also sell their flights to domestic destinations under codeshare agreements to BA, among others) should adjust their schedule to make the transfers work more reliably at this increasingly popular airport.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Q Tran
2 May 2006

Helsinki Vantaa is a typical Scandinavian airport that reminds me of Oslo Gardermoen : bright, quiet, a lot of space and very clean. No queue at security, friendly staff. Check-in desks for Finnair are numerous, but a bit limited for Star Alliance - only 4 desks for all Lufthansa/SAS/Blue1 flights. Bus connections (no train) to the city are easy to find; normal city busses (line 615) are much cheaper than Finnair airport busses: 3,60 vs 5,20 Euros. Transfer between domestic and international is easy and quick, although Non-Schengen gates are at the far end of the terminal.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Maire Mannik
7 February 2006

In a world full of stressful and noisy terminals, Helsinki Airport is simply wonderful. Apart from being extremely stylish, and clean, it is at the same time busy and almost serene. This is partly due to the efficiency of the staff who shoot around on small scooters. The shops include some of Finland's finest design names and all duty free.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by T Waugh
3 December 2005

A lovely, bright, clean, airport. So well organised, and really friendly. The lady at the shop I went to didn't have the item in stock, so she went off to another outlet of the company, found it, and delivered it with a smile to me back at the departure shops. No customs - even when arriving from a Schengen country - which surprised me a little, such a contrast to the USA! It's a great welcome to Finland.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Martha Barnes
2 September 2005

Helsinki airport is comfortable, service is friendly, great shopping, nice restaurants basically everything you could ever need. Always pleasure to spend time at this airport. After coming from Arlanda in Stockholm to Helsinki was relieved. Arland is filthy and just messy in general. Will try to route my flights to this part of the world via Helsinki just to avoid Arlanda.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Aldorado Cultrera
29 June 2005

I used HEL several times in the last months - to both domestic and international (Schengen and non- Schengen) destinations. The airport is a pleasure because it's easy to find what you're looking for, the ambience created through the use of wood and glass as construction materials and walking distances couldn't be shorter (how comes, it's a small airport). The staff seemes to be very skilled and friendly. The Planes generally leave on time. The only downside is the missing railway station and the bus connection to the closest railway station (Tikkurila) is not that frequent.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Tobias Wahl

11 January 2005

HEL is a pleasant airport, efficient and friendly. I regularly fly from Central-Europe to China and Japan, using often Finnair and their main hub HEL. The new extension of the non-Schengen terminal makes it even smoother.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Sasun Vartanyan

4 December 2004

An extremely convenient airport. I flew both Schengen and non Schengen, and things were so smooth. Very spacious, comfy and no problems taking pictures in the terminal (something you can hardly do in US anymore).

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Mark Peurifoy

16 April 2003

Helsinki-Vantaa is a beautiful airport and a stunning example of modern airport architecture! Ultra modern, clean, and efficient, I find it a pleasure to use. The architecture, environmental/info graphics, terminal/gate furniture, and wooden sculptures are exemplary.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Marcus Weiden

4 April 2003

A very good modern airport, with excellent connections to many Far-East destinations, better than they have from Stockholm. Friendly staff. Inexpensive bus connections to the city, but a train connection in future will be an improvement.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by M Devor

15 July 2003

Helsinki Vantaa is a beautiful airport. Wooden floors, great shops, easy connections, and very friendly staff. Yes, the prices are expensive, but, welcome to Finland :). Status quo, sorry to say. The connections were much easier pre-Schengen. Now, if you arrive from outside of the EU, have to queue for passport control making tight connections that used to be doable impossible if the lines are long, which often they are. I prefer the airport pre-Schengen, much easier for everyone to get around airside and you clear everything at your final destination. If you don't have a Schengen visa (for many citizens), the transit area-non EU is quite limited. Many use Helsinki to transfer from the USA to the CIS. Finnair and Gateway lounges are good. Extremely friendly staff and passport officers.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Stephen D'Arcy

8 April 2003

Probably the most expensive "tax-free" (NOT!) airport shop for EU travellers, and the other gift shops are also expensive (Mar 2003). Tip: try the open market by Helsinki waterfront for gifts/souvenirs. That said, the Oak Tree Bar offers a good choice of beers at city-centre prices. Good cheap public transport to the city centre at EURO 3 (public bus) or EURO 4.90 (Finnair shuttle) in 25 minutes.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Marcus Merck

23 January 2003

In December I stopped at Helsinki airport for the first time, on my way from Bangkok to Hamburg. I learnt that stopping in Helsinki is one of the best ways to travel from Bangkok to Europe: beside short flying time, and the connections from Helsinki are very good. The airport is small and comfortable, they could have more services though but the staff there is the friendliest I have ever met.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by John Frewen-Lord

30 September 2002

Yes, the airport is clean and modern, but it seemed a bit small for the passenger loads when I was there just recently - you really had to jostle your way through the crowds. And why are the toilets from the departure hall on a lower level (at least in the area of Gate 20 onwards), connected by two flights of spiral staircase? If you are mobility-impaired, you had to use the elevator/lift, which I think is unacceptable just to reach a toilet.

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Stephan Neuhuser

13 August 2002

Nice, clean, friendly. Truly Scandinavian. I like the shiny wooden floors, the view out in the surrounding forests and the friendly staff. Although there is not much catering and Finnish beer can be very expensive. Luggage service was especially quick and if you have to travel somewhere into the Helsinki/Espoo area take the "Yellow Cab" (a taxi that will take up to 4 passengers to any address in or near town for 18 Euros in total).

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by Stephen D'Arcy

23 July 2002

Used it only once in March 2001. Clean, well-organised, etc. but the cafeteria closed before 19.00 when many planes leave well after this hour. 

Helsinki Vantaa Airport review by John Duffy

23 July 2002

The Helsinki Vantaa Airport review must be one the best mid-size international airports - super clean, efficient, nice shopping, friendly staff. I had a Finnair flight Dublin - Helsinki - Hong Kong, a good combination all together.

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