Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, or simply Helsinki, is located in the city of Vantaa (hence the second name), 17 km from the city centre of the Finnish capital. The airport is the leading airport in Finland in terms of the number of passengers served.
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport has two passenger terminals (T1 and T2 respectively) connected by a special 300-metre-long connecting tunnel and serves as the base for the national carrier Finnair.
Remarkably, free wireless internet (Wi-Fi) at 100 megabits per second is available throughout the terminal complex.
The Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is coded as ‘HEL’ by the International Air Transport Association.
The official website of the airport is www.finavia.fi/ru/helsinkivantaa/.
From the airport to Helsinki
Until recently, the bus was the only means of public transport between Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the Finnish capital. However, the situation has changed dramatically with the opening of the railway station below the terminals.
The railway station is easy to find: there is a lift in the passage between the terminals, which you can use to get down to it (follow the signs). There are two lines of trains, the I and P, that stop here. The former runs eastbound through Tikkurila, the latter westbound through Huopalahti. Trains on both lines converge at Helsinki Central Station (see map below).
You can buy tickets from special vending machines: one just in front of the lift in the passage between the terminals, the other two on the platform of the railway station. For a trip to Helsinki, you need to choose a regional ticket, which costs €5. The same ticket can be bought from the conductor in the car, but in this case the fare will cost €5.5. Trains leave every 10 minutes and the journey takes at least half an hour.
As already mentioned, you can also take city buses that stop in front of both terminals to get to Downtown.
For example, bus No.615 runs daily between the airport and Helsinki Central Station. Another bus, No.617, terminates at the Hakaniemi Market Square in the city centre. The fare is the same as on the train: €5 at the vending machine and €5.50 from the driver. The journey time is about 40 minutes.
The Finnair City Bus, which stops in front of both terminals, operates a shuttle bus service every 20 minutes to the Central Station. Unlike city buses, the Finnair City Bus only makes one stop on the way, so the journey time is no more than 28 minutes. The fare is as follows: €6.30 (if purchased from the driver) and €6.20 (if purchased on the carrier’s website – https://www.pohjolanliikenne.fi).
As for taxi services, prices start at €35, depending on the destination.