Helsinki Vantaa Airport

✅ Verified Review | On arrival from outside EU, it was pretty smooth except for some delays at immigration because anyone not from a rich country gets interrogated (have your onward tickets ready). Baggage collection and customs were fast. The landside area is crowded but has lots of shops, restaurants, some ATMs (some not working but note that everything accepts credit cards) and money changers. It's a long indoors walk to the train station and there aren't many ticket machines - the train is very convenient though. On departure, self check-in and security was fast, then you get funnelled through shops - it's so unclear where to go that they put up signs telling you to walk through the shop to get to the gates. The free wifi was very fast and easy except that you would have to log back in when you move around - but that takes seconds and requires no personal info.

✅ Verified Review | Airport claims to be "all under one roof with smooth connections". In reality the airport consists of several different buildings connected with walk bridges and distances to walk are thus very long. Transfers are very cumbersome. I arrived on a slightly delayed flight with many connecting passengers, and it was clear many would be very pressed for time to make their connections. But there was no transfer help present at the gate to ease the situation. The only thing passengers were told was "Go see Finnair staff". There is not one single sign in the entire airport showing where "Finnair staff" are located. There was neither any help for which connections that would be doable, what gates to go to and how to get there as fast as possible. Transfer security has not enough capacity to handle the high number of passengers that arrives in the afternoon. There is a special priority lane for short connections, but again there are no signs showing that it exists and who can use it, leading most passengers to queue in the ordinary lanes first, only to later find out that lane 10 was priority, but now they can't reach it. The airport has many narrow passages where all passengers must pass through, making the airport feel third world crowded. And passengers with a short connection in a big hurry must still go through the tax-free mazes with extremely narrow lanes risking knocking bottles to the floor. Even in the larger halls the airport has made an effort to make transfers cumbersome. For example, in the schengen terminal they have decided to take away all space for gate lounges and instead use it for commercial purposes, like shops and restaurants. The result is that passengers waiting for departure has no place to be and is instead blocking the entire floor space of the departure hall. This makes traversing the airport, ie getting to the lower numbered gates very difficult and slow. Another result of the non-existing gate lounges is that priority boarding does not work. As soon as a gate opens for boarding, everyone just pushes forward trying to get first in line. All in all this airport does not live up to its reputation of smooth connections and your connection is under 1.5 hours you should be prepared to missing your flight.

✅ Verified Review | I have been very disappointed about the entire airport: 1) Not enough seats. 2)Not enough trolleys. 3) Stroller forbidden in the airport (except ultra light one, cause the staff can carry a 20kg luggage but not a 10kg stroller). 3) Children's area obsolete (the entire airport is becoming obsolete).

✅ Verified Review | Horrible service! I had a flight from Paris to Guangzhou and the transit was in Helsinki. There is an additional passport checking process from Schengen to non-Schengen departures - this took about about 1 hour. I asked the staff if I could skip the line since there was 10 minutes left until boarding closed. Was told "We are not the airline. It's not our business if you miss your flight". I missed the flight with another 2 people. One of them only had 30 minutes of transit time but had to wait in the line for 1 hour. Horrible management of capacity dealing with passport check and zero flexibility and in an urgent situation - I'll try my best to avoid this airport.

✅ Verified Review | Overcrowded, confusing airport. Especially bad are the waiting areas near the departure gates for the non-Schengen flights (Gates 36a, b, c, etc..) where passengers are packed in tiny enclosures (maybe Finns have the habit of handling reindeers that way), with hardly any seating opportunity. Business class lounge in that area also disappointing as undersized and consequently overcrowded and difficulty to find seats. Slow wifi.

✅ Verified Review | Lack of seating at Helsinki Vantaa airport - none at gate 24 which is now a Cafe area. Full plane load of people for KLM flight to Amsterdam wandering around cafe and nearby area. Toilets on T2 main concourse moved upstairs limiting accessibility for families and elderly - very disappointing turn for a Finnish organisation given the country's strong support for families. Seems as if airport has turned into large retail park for the intercontinental market. Have travelled from this airport for 15 years and very sad turn in development, lack of planning for travellers who are not able bodied.

✅ Verified Review | Transited twice through Helsinki, from ZRH to HKG with a connection time of 50 minutes and on the way back with a little less than 2 hours. The very quick connection is possible due to the compact design of the airport. Also, the electronic passport checking is helping to expedite the process. Fact is the there is very little seating offered. Shopping is abundant but late in the evening or early in the morning many outlets are closed. A very good airport.

The number of passengers is growing, but the airport administration (Finavia) are doing their best to maximize the shopping area - and hence minimizing any free space. The consequence: at peak times it is impossible to find a seat, and even walking around the airport is challenging because of the greedy lay-out of shops and cafes. To the gate 24 you literally go through the seating area of a café. It's almost embarrassing to try to squeeze to the gate through the tables. The rush starts at the check-in, and you queue for you luggage, when coming back.

What a cute, efficient airport. When flying Finnair from Europe to China, we changed flights in each direction at Finnair’s hub in Helsinki. The in-flight magazine says that passengers should be able to arrive at their gates in 35 minutes or less, a promise I’ve heard about other airports that I’ve learned not to trust. But this one keeps its word. Passport control and security were extremely efficient in both directions. The security gates were fully staffed, meaning they could handle any size crowd that arrived in a manner of minutes. As a result of the extra time, we could spend quality time perusing the airport, which has casual Finnish charm, is an exemplar of Finnish design, provides many shopping opportunities — whether you’re buying or merely window shopping — and free internet for those of us who want to work.

✅ Verified Review | I travelled through Helsinki airport multiple times in 2016. Helsinki Airport is modern, compact, cosy, clear and clean. Check-in areas are good, but during busy hours a bit too small for all the crowds. Queues are security are normally short, except during busy periods such as holidays. Retail and F&B are good. SkyTeam lounge is too small. Amount of seats at Schengen gates is far from sufficient and the corridors are small. As a result during boarding queues block the main flow area. Staff is friendly and good WiFi. There is a direct and comfortable rail connection between the airport and downtown Helsinki. The train takes between 30 and 40 minutes.