The Leading Airport Magazine

Helsinki Airport, a leading hub connecting Europe and Asia, takes travellers on an innovative journey into life in Finland as soon as they enter the new €40 million commercial offer. Covering a 17,000sqm area, the facility boasts a combination of luxury fashion, unique Finnish brands, and a diverse F&B range. The spectacular overhaul is part of a wider €900 million development programme to be completed by 2020.

Elena Stenholm, Vice President, Commercial Services, Helsinki Airport: “To start with, there should be enough to choose from. There are also design elements, which would contribute to how passengers feel about spending time here so that there is enough to choose from, enough to see, and enough to enjoy, whether it’s food & beverage, or the shopping experience.”

At the core of this development is a strategy focused on delivering innovative concepts and pushing boundaries with designs that represent the “Finnish feel”. “The Finnish design should be about natural elements,” Elena Stenholm, Vice President, Commercial Services, Helsinki Airport, tells Airport Business. “So, for instance, we just opened Pier Zero and that design is very much what we feel is the ‘Finnish feel’. It has some steel structures but also hand-made wooden arches, so it’s important that we, in everything that we are building here, represent Finnish-ness in the design.”

Pier Zero is just one of 27 new F&B services which have recently opened. A total of 70 new or renovated shops are due to open over the course of the six-year programme. Many of these shops are high-end brands debuting in the Finnish market, including Victoria’s Secret.

Pier Zero is a stunning two-storey café-restaurant with unrestricted views of the airfield. Its hand-made wooden arches represent the “Finnish feel” has strived for across its developments.

The innovative dedicated boutique beauty area is another example of how Helsinki Airport is offering brands that are in limited distribution in Finland, such as Origins, MAC, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Jo Malone London, and Tom Ford Beauty. And, for the first time ever, Helsinki Airport has introduced an outside operator – World Duty Free Group – a huge change for both collection and operation at the airport.

The F&B outlets are mostly finished, but the retail development continues apace. Commercial work will continue alongside other developments, such as extension of the non-Schengen terminal, and work to T1 and T2. Stenholm estimates completion of the non-Schengen extension within three years, and five to 10 for the rest.

The innovative dedicated boutique beauty area is an example of how Helsinki Airport is offering brands that are in limited distribution in Finland, such as Origins, MAC, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Jo Malone London, and Tom Ford Beauty.

Passenger feedback has, to date, been unsurprisingly positive. Stenholm says customers have even been flying to Helsinki on cheap flights from Sweden just to experience the unique Wine & View bar.

This, at the very least, highlights how specialist concepts are proving to be very popular indeed. However, there are still gaps to fill on the retail side, and Stenholm stresses that filling them is not an easy task. As a compact airport, space is limited – particularly in the very busy Schengen area in Terminal 2. It is, therefore, more important than ever that the allocated shops and brands are the right ones.

“To start with, there should be enough to choose from,” Stenholm emphasises. “There are also design elements, which would contribute to how passengers feel about spending time here so that there is enough to choose from, enough to see, and enough to enjoy, whether it’s food & beverage, or the shopping experience. It should also increase dwell time when it comes to the Finnish passengers, so that they come well in time to the airport because they know there is something interesting to do and see.”

The airport is also planning on developing services for transit passengers, and aims to add more wellbeing services.

As travellers enter airside from the main security desk in Terminal 2, they are immediately encouraged into the duty free shop. From this point, passengers tend to take to the left hand side to experience the exciting stretch of restaurants and shops. Café Tori, Stenholm explains, is a huge success with passengers thanks to its quick service. Pier Zero and Fly Restaurant are just as popular with travellers.

Meanwhile, on the left is a selection of high-end labels like Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss. Continuing through the terminal, passengers approach the non-Schengen side. After passing through duty free again, passengers face more luxury stores such as Michael Kors and Burberry in the main commercial area, and new F&B concepts such as Nordic Kitchen and Two Tigers, which is popular with Asian travellers.

The introduction of more flavours places Helsinki Airport in a very comfortable position to allure, and better serve, an increasingly international passenger flow – particularly those on connecting flights.

It is also clear that Helsinki Airport has thought long and hard about its Finnish offerings. It encourages operators to stock products in line with the 16 million passengers passing through the airport, such as specialist alcoholic beverages, souvenirs, and food types unique to the Finnish market, as well as creating a strong line-up of leading brands.

“That is also part of the Finnish feel,” Stenholm concludes. “We want to develop that further so that we make sure that we do have very good, high-quality brands that are also known internationally, and ensure they do get the visibility in the commercial area.”