Passengers show their appreciation for Helsinki Airport

The winners were selected through Skytrax’s global airport satisfaction survey, which encompasses feedback from over 550 airports worldwide. The survey evaluates various aspects of airport services and customer experience, ranging from check-in procedures to shopping and dining opportunities. 

Helsinki Airport saw a comprehensive overhaul in 2023, which, alongside a sleek Nordic design facelift, emphasised enhancing customer service. Finavia, which manages and runs 20 airports around Finland, spearheaded the project.  

“[We] increased the amount of liquids permitted at security control to two litres, opened a total of 26 shops, restaurants and cafes at the airport, and modernised baggage logistics,” said Ulla Serlenius, senior vice president at Finavia. “It is no coincidence that we received the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the airport’s history last year.” 

Flying high with second-hand

As part of the revamp, Finavia last year partnered with local family firm Relove to open the first second-hand concept shop at the Helsinki Airport. The shop offers high-quality second-hand clothing and accessories along with food and beverages.

The Skytrax award adds to Helsinki Airport’s list of accolades in 2024. In March, the airport was crowned the best airport in Europe in the size category of 15–25 million passengers by Airports Council International (ACI). A month prior, based on another Skytrax research, Helsinki was ranked the world’s fifth best airport for business travellers. It was the only European airport to make the list.  

In addition to these, last year the airport's food hall and use of data modelling were awarded global industry recognition.

Helsinki Airport has also been making headlines for a number of other reasons, too. The Nordic region’s largest charging station for electric taxis opened at the airport earlier this year, implemented by Finavia and smart charging solutions provider Plugit. 

While Helsinki has seemingly dominated the headlines, other Finnish airports have also kept busy in recent times. In December 2023, Finland saw half a million foreign visits, with record-breaking winter seasons at the Kittilä and Rovaniemi airports.