Finavia invests €7 million to renovate Helsinki Airport’s air traffic area

Finavia has announced that it is investing €7 million in the renovation of Helsinki Airport’s (HEL) air traffic area in summer 2021. The goal is to ensure the smooth taxiing and apron operations of aircraft, as well as to further improve the management of stormwater.

“We are taking advantage of the lower traffic volumes caused by the pandemic and renovating areas that are easier to work on now compared to the normal traffic situation. The effect on traffic and the management of aircraft noise will be minor,” said Jani Elasmaa, Vice President of Finavia.

The renovation work will take the entire summer to complete. During the renovation, work will be carried out on the surfaces of the taxiways and the apron, the aircraft parking stands and the stormwater sewer system. The work will be done in the air traffic area, which means that there will be temporary changes to the use of runways, as well as the taxiing and parking of aircraft.

Renovation work began in early spring 2021 and will continue into the autumn. The major part of the renovation work will be carried out in two stages during the summer, from 31 May to 26 August 2021. The first stage, which will take place in June and July 2021, will have the biggest impact. During this stage, only one runway will be available in the daytime.

During the first stage (31 May to 8 August 2021), only one runway will be available in the daytime. Runway 3 (22R/04L) will be used for take-off and landing from 06:00 to 00:00. During that time, Runway 1 (04R-22L) and Runway 2 (15-33) can only be used for taxiing. All runways will be open for take-off and landing from 00:00 to 06:00.

The second stage will take place from 16 August to 26 August 2021. During this stage, Runway 3 (22R/04L) will be closed for 10 days. Runway 1 (04R-22L) and Runway 2 (15-33) will be used for take-off and landing.

“As a result of the pandemic, the number of flights is still significantly lower than usual, which means that the changes in the use of runways will not have as big an impact on noise management as they would normally have,” said Mikko Viinikainen, Finavia’s Vice President of Sustainability and Environment.

In June and July 2021, the aircraft noise situation will be normal in the nighttime. In the daytime, when Runway 3 is the only available runway, there may be more aircraft noise than usual in Kerava and Tuusula.

In August 2021, when Runway 3 is closed, flights will take off from Runway 1 when the wind is blowing from the west or the south. The routes of aircraft that take off during that time will be slightly different over West Vantaa and Espoo. When the wind is blowing from the north or the east, only Runway 1 will be used for landing.