Finavia and the Vantaa Light Rail Alliance are working together to develop a plan for the location of an airport stop for the newly approved transport link.
“We are very pleased with the decision that the political decision-makers of Vantaa were ready to give the Vantaa Light Rail Alliance a mandate to plan the light rail up to the airport area together with Finavia,” notes Tero Anttila, deputy mayor of the City of Vantaa’s Urban Environment Department.
“This way, the benefits brought by the tramway can be utilised as soon as possible.”
According to its supporters, the Vantaa Light Rail will further strengthen Helsinki Airport’s position as a hub for different modes of transport.
They add that it will also increase the vitality and attractiveness of the significant employment cluster formed by the airport area and Aviapolis.
Ulla Serlenius, Finavia’s senior vice president of commercial and real estate development, says: “We are very pleased with the positive decision of the City Council of Vantaa to launch the Vantaa Light Rail project.
“Good and comprehensive transport connections are one of the airport’s strengths, serving passengers as well as hundreds of companies in the area and their thousands of employees.
“The airport’s different stop options have been discussed in good cooperation with the light rail alliance. From Finavia’s point of view, the options to be discussed now, on the basis of which a more detailed plan will be developed, can certainly be implemented at the airport.”
For the supplementary plan, the Light Rail Alliance and Finavia are investigating two different location options for the light rail line’s final stop. The first option is located on Terminaalitie and the second option on Teletie.
The aim of the investigation is to gain a good understanding of how the different options support a good customer experience and smooth traffic connections in the core area of the airport and how they will affect the development of the airport area in the coming decades.
Helsinki Airport is a critical infrastructure area, which means that the perspective of comprehensive security is also taken into account in the planning. In addition, a cost estimate of the implementation is prepared.
“Already at this stage, the assessments have shown that both options will cause significant changes in a large area of the airport,” admits Serlenius.
“A final stop located on Terminaalitie would cause major changes to the airport area’s ground traffic, and a final stop located on Teletie would cause changes to the apron area used by air traffic.
“The details of both stop options are examined equally to ensure that the airport’s development can continue also in the future.”
Finavia owns the Helsinki Airport buildings, the properties in their immediate vicinity and the land areas near the airport.
