FINLAND. Helsinki Airport has completed renovation work at Terminal 1, offering improved services as well as new shops and restaurants to passengers.
“The service offering at Helsinki Airport is improving considerably. The terminal area has increased +30% and the number of services is now over 100,” said Helsinki Airport Director Juha-Pekka Pystynen.
The new shops and restaurants comprise a service complex, which is located near Gates 13-15.
Some of the new dining areas include “˜At Bar Delight’, where passengers can charge their mobile devices and laptops while enjoying a quick drink and snack, and “˜Seasons’, an airside á la carte restaurant, cafe and bar. The idea behind the Seasons restaurant concept is to offer passengers voyages of discovery and travels in taste to new and exotic lands, Pystynen said.
Environmental-friendliness and ethical values were taken into consideration in planning the restaurant services, Pystynen added. Fair trade products will also be on offer.
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Passengers can relax in the sauna, enjoy natural treatments and take a dip in the pool in Finnair’s new Via Spa |
The new terminal area also boasts a Helsinki Airport Duty Free shop, a Kalevala Koru jewellery outlet, a Readers’ bookstore and an ARG fashion boutique, with a selection aimed at both men and women.
A new passport control, smoking lounge, transfer information desk as well as a modern SAS-lounge have also been opened.
The shops and restaurants at the airport may be patronised by all passengers – whether arriving or departing on domestic and international flights – with the exception of tax free shops selling tobacco and alcohol. Due to customs and tax restrictions, these products may only be sold to passengers departing on international flights.
Additional services will be added in December, when the terminal expansion is fully completed.
Last December an expansive shopping and restaurant complex was opened to long-haul passengers, whose flights are located near Gates 32-36 (serving flights to Asia, the US and European countries outside the Schengen Area).
December 2009 also saw the opening of Via Spa, owned by Finnair, which offers wellness and comfort services for transfer passengers travelling between Europe and Asia. It claims to be a full-service spa concept with a size that is currently not found anywhere else in the world. Here, passengers can relax in the sauna, enjoy natural treatments using purely organic spa products and take a dip in the pool.
Short treatments lasting from 10 minutes to half an hour are available, such as the 15-minute neck and head jet lag massage and traditional hamam bath.
The choice of saunas ranges from a spruce sauna and stone sauna from the Alps, to a steam sauna and traditional Finnish sauna, which will provide a view over a mineral water pool to the aircraft taxiways.
Via Spa is located in Terminal 2 between Gates 36 and 37. It is open daily from 10am to 10pm to all passengers over 18 years of age in the long-haul flight area. Personal wellness treatments are available from 12pm to 8pm.
Admission is free for Finnair Plus Platinum cardholders. All other passengers have to pay an entrance fee of €45, which will include a free beverage and towel. Swimwear can be hired or purchased.
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