Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (IATA: HEL, ICAO: EFHK; Finnish: Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, Swedish: Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats) is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region. The airport is located in the city of Vantaa, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) west of Tikkurila, the centre of Vantaa and 9.2 NM (17.0 km; 10.6 mi) north of Helsinki city center. The airport is operated by Finavia. Helsinki Airport is the leading long-haul airport in Northern Europe.
The airport is the main international gateway to Finland and the biggest airport in the country. It is the 31st largest airport in Europe and 4th largest in the Nordic countries in terms of passenger numbers. About 90% of Finland’s international air traffic passes through Helsinki Airport. The airport handled 16.4 million passengers in 2015, including 13.8 million international passengers and 2.6 million domestic passengers. The airport handled 165,430 tonnes of cargo in 2015. On average, the airport handles around 350 departures a day.
The airport is the main hub for Finnair, the flag carrier of Finland, and its subsidiary Nordic Regional Airlines. It is also the hub for CityJet (on behalf of SAS), Jet Time, TUIfly Nordic and operating base for Norwegian Air Shuttle and Primera Air. The airport is also a focus city for Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia. Helsinki Airport handles around 40 airlines, including 28 scheduled and 13 charter airlines, while offering scheduled and charter flights to over 130 destinations in 45 countries worldwide. The airport offers a total of 21 direct long-haul routes to Asia and North America and numerous long-haul charter destinations. Currently Helsinki Airport has two terminals with a total of 27 jet bridges and numerous remote parking stands.
