Helsinki, the capital of Finland, the neighboring state of the Russian Federation, warmly invites not only the Finns themselves, but also travelers from all over the globe. The cozy streets, shady green parks and the friendly attitude of the locals impress everyone who is here for the first time. Russian tourists are treated like brothers here. For more than a century, Finland was part of the Russian Empire, starting in 1808, when Emperor Alexander the First announced the conquest of this land. Every year, more and more of our compatriots visit the country. Someone arrives on New Year's holidays, someone just walks around the capital, and for someone Helsinki is just the beginning of the cruise. In almost all cases, the paths of each of the vacationers lead here - to Vantaa International Airport (Helsinki).
Satellite of the capital
The capital of Finland is growing every decade. Almost a dozen of its satellite cities are already included in Greater Helsinki. The largest of them are Espoo and Vantaa. The latter is located near the Gulf of Finland in the province of Uusimaa. It is based on the river of the same name and is the fourth largest city in Finland. Vantaa is famous mainly for having the country's largest air gate: Vantaa International Airport (Helsinki). A large number of business parks have been built in the city, the leading Scandinavian hotel chains open their apartments to guests in the immediate vicinity of the airport. The small distance from the airport and the minimum transfer time attracts large companies to this area both for conducting lectures and seminars, and for locating their branches here. On the way to Vantaa Airport, you can see the neon lights of such world brands as Valio, Onninen, Alfa Laval - Fincoil, Finair, Uponor and many others.
History
The first runway of the airfield was opened in 1952, and after only four years - the second. In the same 1956, Vantaa Airport (Helsinki) took a huge step forward in ensuring flight safety by installing a radar aircraft control system. In 1969, the first commercial passenger flight was sent from the new terminal. Four years later, the airline began operating a security service and pre-flight inspections of international flights. In 1984, the passenger terminal was decided to expand, and this was supposed to be done without stopping its functioning. Three years later, the reconstruction was completed, and the airport reached a new level in terms of the number of passengers received and the quality of their service.
Further development
In 1993, a new terminal was opened for servicing domestic flights. Three years later, the terminals were connected by a special closed pedestrian crossing. In the same year, a hotel and a congress center were opened at the entrance to Vantaa Airport. Parking for personal passenger vehicles has been expanded. A new gallery of stores has become available to air travelers. A year later, in 1997, a VIP-hall was opened to receive official government and presidential delegations. In the same year, the airport was first recognized as the best in the world. Two years later, opened new arrival and departure halls in the international terminal. In 2001, earned new passport control points. It has become possible to issue a tax free return to passengers not only after, but also before registration. In 2002, the third runway opens. All these measures allowed the airport to bring passenger traffic to more than 10 million people a year.
New era
2009 was a year of change. Helsinki-Vantaa Airport has completely rebuilt the T1 domestic flight terminal. Construction work in the arrival hall, luggage area, with check-in desks was completed by the end of the year. Passengers have access to new stores and more convenient car rental counters. At the international terminal of the airdrome, the existing passenger service system was improved and a new luggage center was built. The board of Vantaa Airport has been partially modernized, replacing some of the electronics with more modern.
By train
To unload the bus shuttle service to the city, it was decided to erect a direct railway link from Helsinki. The branch was supposed to open in September 2012, however, due to a number of technical problems, a revision of the project was required. The first train with passengers left Vantaa Airport on July 1, 2015, heading to the Central Station of the capital.
To Europe
In the context of the economic crisis and currency instability, people are successfully learning to save. Flights to Europe from Russia are becoming more expensive every month. The situation is worsened by the constant growth of the dollar and the euro. Low-cost airlines offer suitable conditions only for people traveling alone and without luggage. For family tourists, the cost of a ticket with all additional payments for standard amenities, as a rule, is not much cheaper than the tariffs of well-known carriers. The combination of these factors forced Russian tourists to go on a trick. They get to Finland by their own car, leave the car in the parking lot, and fly to Europe through the mediation of European companies at low prices. If you go with the whole family, then such a transfer is much more profitable than a direct flight. Parking at Vantaa Airport (Helsinki) for 18 days will cost 52 euros. Helsinki-Barcelona flight, for example, during peak season - about 30-60 euros per person. The benefit speaks for itself. For those who do not want to cover the distance to Northern Palmyra from the capital behind the wheel on their own, Russian Railways offers a service for transporting personal vehicles. That is, you embark on a train journey with your car. And upon arrival, you will only have five to six hours to drive to Helsinki.