Finavia 26.9.2017
Waiting to change planes at Helsinki Airport? Despite its high passenger volume, the country's number one airport is quite handy in size, and a change of flight can be made in 35 minutes at best.
Sometimes it's hard to avoid traffic jams and sometimes your timing fails you as you wander the airport corridors. When the rush hits, it feels as if every passenger in the airport is lumbering right in front of you, with beads of sweat beading on your forehead. What are some of the things you should consider when moving around an airport?
Among the world's airports, Helsinki Airport's size is manageable and it is often uncongested. The departure gates are located under one roof. In the best case, a changeover takes 35 minutes, but there is always a risk of missing a flight. Finavia's Customer Experience Champion Sini Kaikkonen provides guidance on various example situations:
- Transit within the Schengen area - for example, people travelling from Kittilä to Paris can walk directly from one gate to another
- Moving from the Schengen area to outside the Schengen area - Flights from Kittilä to Tokyo have to go through border control
- Transit from outside the Schengen area to the Schengen area - When flying from Tokyo to Kittilä, passengers go through both security and border control
- Transit from outside the Schengen area to outside the Schengen area - depending on the airport and point of arrival, passengers may have to go through security checks.
"The most time is spent moving from outside the Schengen area to the Schengen area," Kaikkonen summarises.
Additional tips for busy plane changers
Kaikkonen listed a few tips to help make busy exchanges easier:
- Check the departure gate as soon as you arrive at the airport. In addition to the gate information, the boards also show the route and how long it will take to get there. You can also check the status of your flight on the boards.
- If the gate number is followed by a letter, such as 31A or 50C, be prepared for a shuttle bus from the gate to the plane. Exceptions are gates 31X and 32A, where passengers walk to the plane over bridges. When transferring by shuttle, the gates open and close slightly earlier than the bridge gates.
- Crossing the border is faster when you use a passport machine. All Finns have a biometric passport, so using the machine is easy. You can also use the fast track to get to the border checkpoint, which saves a huge amount of time during peak times. Ask the staff for more information about the fast lanes.
- When you arrive from a non-Schengen flight for security checks, look out for the notice boards. You may be allowed to proceed along the Express Line to the security checkpoint. The boards will show all the fast-track transitions, and you can also ask staff for assistance.
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