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July 31, 2018Helsinki Vantaa Airport – Spotting Guide
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- last modified on August 25, 2022
Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL/EFHK) is located 15km north of the downtown of Finnlands capital and the biggest airport in the scandinavian country. The airport handled almost 19 million passenger back in 2017 and almost 200t of freight. Helsinki Vantaa was finished in 1951 to repleace Helsinki Malmi, which got to small by then. The reason for the new airport were the for the Olympic summergames back in 1952 – one year after the opening of the new airport.
With the time the “new” Helsinki airport grew and grew. Back in 2002 the third runway was constructed and nowadays the terminals are being expanded (to be able to handle 20 million passengers from 2020 on).
Helsinki Vantaa is being served by around 25 airlines regularly, including transcontinental carriers like JAL or Qatar and european ones like KLM, Lufthansa and similar. Of course, the Finnish airport is the mainhub for the biggest national airline, Finnair. This carrier connects many Asian cities with the scandinavian hub today and that’s why HEL got one or even the most important transfer airport for passengers on their ways between Asia and Europe, if they want to avoid direct and often more than 10h flights. Those travellers (and all other ones of course as well) can enjoy the free Wifi in all the terminal facilities nowadays.
Written by Severin Hackenberger and Mikko Heiskanen. Some information provided by Mikko Mertanen. Updated: May 2022
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety |  |
| Photo Locations | |
| Weather |  |
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| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 04L/22R | 3.060m / 10.039ft Asphalt |
| 04R/22L | 3.440m / 11.483ft Asphalt |
| 15/33 | 2.901m / 9.518ft Asphalt |
| Terminals | |
| Terminal 1 | Star Alliance members (except Turkish Airlines), airBaltic, Vueling |
| Terminal 2 | Finnair and all other “One World” and “Sky Team” members, Turkish Airlines (although it’s “Star Alliance” normally) and all of the non-aligned carriers (e.g. Belavia, Transavia, Sun Express and so on). Apart from this charter flights like Wamos Air. |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Often useful, but not always needed! Many spots are higher than the fence cause of buildings or hills. |
| Car/Public Transport | Car is highly recommended as distances are high and public transport is quite poor. |
| Restrooms | Quite limited and almost only inside terminal (and nearby) facilities or inside nearby restaurants/fast-food shops. |
| Drinks/Food | Nothing directly at the spots itself so be prepared. Quite limited and almost only inside terminal (and nearby) facilities or inside nearby restaurants/fast-food shops. |
| Hotels | Limited and almost only near the terminal or inside the city. The Hilton Hotel Helsinki Airport is a great combination of a good hotel and a spotting location, because you can take pictures directly out of the hotel. From the stairhouses inside the hotel you can take spot planes. This is an alternative to the scenic terrace, if the terrace should be closed, not opened yet or similar. The stairs CAN’T be entered from the ground floor, but from the floors above you’ll be able to do so even without keycard. The stairs can be left without hotel keycard as well. There are four stairhouses (one at every corner). For pictures click on the icon on the map! Taking pictures during the day works fine, but as soon as it is going to be warm or you want to shot during the night, this option is useless due to light reflections and haze. |
| Season | Depending on what you wanna shot, but summer is mostly better, because you’ll have much more daylight. Of course for deicing shots at the winter months will be better. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 04L/22R | During Southern/Western winds, RWY22R is mainly used for departures. It is also used for arrivals during afternoon peak-hours. During Northern/Eastern winds, RWY04L is almost exclusively an arrival runway. |
| 04R/22L | During Southern/Western winds, RWY22L is used for arrivals during afternoon peak hours, and for some departures off-peak hours. During Northern/Eastern winds, almost all departures use RWY04R. The runway also gets some arrivals during arrivals-peak and also other times when departures permit. |
| 15/33 | During Southern/Western winds, RWY15 is used for arrivals off-peak hours. Some turboprop departures use RWY15 as well. RWY33 is only really rarely used (a couple of times a year as this runway is mostly only used a lot during strong winds), when the wind dictates it. So a hard, northerly wind. It usually means that all traffic is using that RWY. |
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Ahtolantie - 22L arrivals (afternoon)
| WHERE | This spot is no exact location rather the are along the field depending on your favourite angle. The easiest way is by exiting highway “45” onto “Kulomäentie”. This road ends up in “Puusepäntie” road. Shortly after those two roads got one exit “Puuseoäntie” into “Ahtolantie” road on your left. Follow the road till its end and choose your favourite position. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 22L. |
| TIME | From afternoon on (16:00/17:00) till sunset. |
| MISC. | No ladder needed. Nothing nearby. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm |
Lemminkäisen Kallio - 22L arrivals
| WHERE | This spot is located on a high rock, which can be reached from “Puusepäntie” street. You can easily go a few houndred meters to the sides to get a better angle for normal side arrival shots, this spot is more for creative shots like the example picture. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 22L from behind from the rocks top. |
| TIME | Depending on your interest. If you want to take creative shots like in the example pictures, backlit might be okay/good as well – then the time from December till February will be the best time. So depending on this, the spot is useful all day. |
| MISC. | No ladder needed. Climbing might be dangerous. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100 – 500mm |
Spot itsself looks like THIS.
Taxiway Z - 22L and 15 arrivals, 04R heavy departures
| WHERE | This spot is located on a small dirt hill next to the airport perimeter fence. From the terminal, drive “Ilmailutie” until you get to t-junction, then turn left to “Cargo 2” on “Ilmakehä” then turn left on the next junction to “Junkersintie”. After about 1km, take the first exit from the roundabout to “Läntinen Valkoisenlähteenti”e and then turn right to “Tuusulantie” highway. After a couple of kilometres turn right from the first intersection and take the second exit to “Koivukylänväylä”, turn right to bridge which goes over the “Tuusulantie” highway. Then drive straight on “Simosentie” and “Antennitie” and then turn right to “Vesikuja”. Follow the road for about 600m, then you can see a parking spot on the right. It is illegal to drive further but some still do it.
Park your car here. Follow “Vesikuja” till its end, which ends up at a gate – pass the barrier on the right and contiue proceeding along the fence until you will see the airport fence infront of you. Turn right and walk along the fence again. After a couple of hundred meters the road takes a dip and on the right there is a hill which is higher than the fence. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 22L. Late rotations on runway 04R as well as most arrivals on runway 15 as the Finnair A350 below in the example pictures. |
| TIME | Runway 04R/22L: From morning (07:00) till late midday (15:00). Runway 15/33: From sunrise till late morning. |
| MISC. | No ladder is needed. There is nothing so bring everything with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70 – 300mm |
Cargo ramp embankment- 33 arrivals and cargo ramp
| WHERE | This spot is located by the roadside of “You can also take pictures along the fence (like the C17), but then you need a ladder! |
| WHAT | Cargo apron and 33 arrivals (rare only during strong winds). |
| TIME | Arrivals on runway 33 are good from sunrise till late morning (09:00); Cargo apron depends on the angle, but from 16:00 on you’ll bad light mostly, so spot is better in the morning hours. |
| MISC. | Ladder not really needed, only if you wanna shot next to the fence. But don`t stand direcdtly at the fenceline as security may approach and ask you to step back. Otherwise you can use the hills on the other streetside to clear the fence! Nothing really nearby. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-400mm |
Spot itsself looks like THIS.
View from the hill looks like this (but you can also take pictures right from the fence like the USAF C17 example shot above):
Junkersintie - 33 arrivals
| WHERE | This spot is located right by the roadside of street 1371/”Junkersintie”. You can reach this spot by using the car and park it nearby the bus stop or by using the bus, which literally just stops right in front of the spot. Bus stop name is “Kiiroradantie” and (in June 2018) the stop is served by the lines 621 and 962.
Update 2018: Unfortunately the fence was moved and now you can’t climb the cliffs, which can be seen on the Google maps shot. You can still take shots by the roadside, but of course the shooting window is limited now. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 33. |
| TIME | From late morning (10:00) till sunset. |
| MISC. | Ladder not needed, but useful. Nothing really nearby. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70 – 200mm |
Spot itself looks like THIS.
GAT - Ramp of GAT and Cargo
| WHERE | This spot is just next to the GAT by the fence. It can easily reached by car, which can be parked infront of the terminal. But you can also use the bus to get there. Therefore just exit at “Liikelento” a few meters to the west. Then follow “Siipitie” road and “Liikelentotie” road until you reach the GAT. |
| WHAT | GAT apron and maybe some views on the cargo apron as well. Runway 15/33 can be seen from here as well. |
| TIME | Depending on the angle; GAT rather around noon and runway from 10am on till sunset. |
| MISC. | Ladder needed! Nothing really nearby, like restrooms or food. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 24 – 250mm |
Rahtikuja - 33 arrivals and departures, taxiway
| WHERE | This spot is located right by the fence at the end of a alley called “Rahtikuja”. The way from terminal 1 takes about ~15 minutes by foot. Walk on “Rahtitie” past terminals and the cargo buildings (on your left) and shortly after the roundabout turn left to “Rahtikuja”. Walk to the end of this alley, until you get to the fence. |
| WHAT | Arrivals/departures on runway 33 and nearby apron movements and the planes taxiing to business terminal. |
| TIME | For parked planes from morning till late midday (14:00) and for runway 15/33 from late morning (10:00) till sunset. |
| MISC. | View can be very limited due to freground clutter and you just see the arrivals late (no more view to the right than shown on the overview shot below). So the shotingwindow is sometimes limited/blocked by containers or/and parked aircraft. Heat haze is a big problem in summer! No ladder is needed as there are fire escape ladders to use and you can also take photos through the fence, but this is very difficult. But spotting with a ladder is much easier and better as you can vary your position in order to see the planes earlier. There is nothing so bring everything with you – nearest facilities in terminal 1. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 18 – 400mm |
cenic terrace - 04R/22L movements, apron
| WHERE | Exit the arrivalarea of T2, then go to the front, where walkway meet streets – decorated by some concrete piers. Follow the signs into south-western direction till the blue big building, which “wears” the Finnair title at the top. The building do not look open to the public that much, but it is: just enter it, go up to the 6th floor and go out onto the terrace.
If the extrem weather is inconstant, you should phone the hotline before you plan to visit the terrace: (+357) 020 708 3200 Update AUG 2022: Due to construction works, it’s non sure, if the way to reach this spot will stay the same all time. Way to get here is quite difficult to find and explain nowadays… |
| WHAT | Runway 04R/22L arrivals and departures as well as some apron movements. |
| TIME | Depending on what you wanna shot, but light conditions will be mostly better in the morning till midday. Runway 04R/22L: From morning (07:00) till late midday (15:00). |
| MISC. | The terrace can be reached without security check or similar and is supposed to be opened for the public from Mon-Sat 05:00-19:00 and Sundays 12:00-18:00. The free space for photos is quite limited, so it’s not the perfect spot for photos. Heat haze is a BIG problem from around 9am on, the weather almost doesn’t matters! If there are worser weather conditions (like fog, ice or snow), the outside part of the terrace might be closed, but then you can still shot from inside. Ladders forbidden! Everything you need is inside the nearby terminal facilities. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 250 – 400mm |
The way to the terrace from above:
Airport terrace - 04R/22L movements, apron
| WHERE | This terrace is behind the security check, so you can only reach it with a boarding pass. Located quite in the middle of Terminal 2 above “Exit 2B”. Just follow the signs to the mentioned exit and once you’ve arrived there, go up to the first floor and you’ll see the terrace on the western side. The terrace is belonging to a restaurant, but nobody cares if you stay there without being a guest!
As you can see on the first overview picture, you can take picture without glass as well – therefore go to the right corner next to the door. View is more limited there, but quality is better as well! The space there is ~8cm wide. |
| WHAT | All activities on the apron and runway 04R/22L. |
| TIME | Depending on what you wanna shot, but light conditions will be mostly better in the morning till midday. Runway 04R/22L: From morning (07:00) till late midday (15:00). |
| MISC. | Everything you need is inside the terminal facilities. Ladder forbidden, the terrace behind glass! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50 – 300mm Icelandair B757 = 50mm / Finnair A321 = 195mm / Finnair ERJ190 = 95mm |
How the get up to the terrace from inside the terminal:
Pakkalan huoltotie - ramp, taxiway, arrivals 04R
| WHERE | +++ Update 2019: As there are ongoing construction works in this area here, you may be stopped by the airport security, Finavia or other services and asked to leave as one is not suppossed to go onto the construction sites. +++
To be honest, the spot here is a combination out of two “part-spots”. In the end your exact position depends on the movement you wanna spot. Car: This spot/spots can be reached easily from the highway 135, which is named “Lentoasmantie” as well. Therefore just exit the highway at the exit “Virkamies Tjänstemans”, which is marked as industrial zone on the signs. The exit will end up into “Tikkurilantie” street, where you’ll have to turn right (doesn’t matters if you’re coming from the terminal or the city). Then follow the street for about ~1,2km and exit the roundabout at the first exit to “Pakkalan huoltotie”. Follow the road for a few hundred meters and park somewhere by the roadside (can be done easily infront of #10.2). Then choose your exact spot, depending on the traffic you wanna spot. Bus: Take the line 575, 576 or 632 to “Kytökaillo” bus station (marked on the map). After you’ve left the bus (at the named stop), walk to the mentioned roundabout and exit to “Pakkalan huoltotie”. If you wanna shot arrivals, follow the road for ~400m and climb the rocky hill on your left, but if you wanna shot line-ups/taxiing aircraft, follow the road for another ~400m from the parking and climb the rocks on your left in a curve. Arrivals: Climb the rocky hill, which is located on the opposite side of the parking spot infront of the hall/hangar (marked on the map as “Parking #10”). This (part-)spot is marked as #10.2 on the map. Shots of taxiing aircraft will be destroyed by all the poles on the apron, therefore the angle for arrivals is much better here. Line-Ups/Taxiing aircraft: Climb the rocks in the curve on your left handside and search your favourite spot on them – this (part-)spot is marked as #10.1 on the map. The angle for arrivals is much worser here, but you won’t have any poles in your way while shooting taxiing aircraft. |
| WHAT | Aircrafts parked around here and the ones, which are taxiing to 04L/04R takeoff. Apart from this, arrivals on runway 04R. |
| TIME | Depending on the angle of your object, but light conditions are mostly better around noon! Line-up shots are good from 14:00/15:00 till sunset. Runway 04R/22L: From morning (07:00) till late midday (15:00). |
| MISC. | Ladder not needed. Nothing nearby. Heat haze is almost always a problem for taxi-shots. ACCESS MIGHT BE DANGEROUS! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-400mm |
Spot #10.1:
Spot #10.2:
Rock - 04L arrivals and departures, 22R heavy departures
| WHERE |
+++ Update May 2022: The spot cannot be reached as the entry is fenced off. +++ |
| WHAT | |
| TIME | |
| MISC. | |
| FOCAL LENGTH | |
Katriinantie rock - 04L arrivals and departures, 22R departures
| WHERE | Honestly, this spot is no exact position, rather the area along the fence, depending on the angle/moment you wanna shot! But in our opinion the best spot along the fence is just next to DHL and called “Katariinantie rock”.
Bus: Take the I-train from the terminal to “Aviapolis” station and then bus 576 to “DHL Etelä”. The rock is just next to the bus station. |
| WHAT | Arrivals and departures on runway 04L as well as departures on runway 22R. |
| TIME | From afternoon (16:00/17:00) till sunset. |
| MISC. | No ladder is needed and there is nothing. So bring everything with you. DON’T TOUCH THE FENCE HERE! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm |
Dirtbank - 15 arrivals, 22R line-up, de-icing 22R
| WHERE |
UPDATE JULY 2020: According to visitor’s reports, it is possible to reach the spot again. Therefore walk along “a small forest until you reach the fence”… We wish you good luck, keep us updated! This spot is no exact position, rather the area along the fence. Your exact position in the end depends on the angle/moment you wanna spot. The spot can be reached by car and bus quite easily. Car: If you’re coming from the terminal, drive to spot #12 first, which is located by the roadside of “Katariinantie”. After you’ve passed spot #12, follow the road for ~2,5km. Then turn right into “Myllykyläntie” street. Pass the Karting center on your right and after a few hundred meters turn right again into “Myllypadontie”. Follow this road for about ~750m, then you should have arrived at kinda “double-junction”. Turn twice right, so the road will lead you into southern direction and straight onto the fence. Drive till the fence, park your car nearby and choose your favourite position along the fence or on the dirt-/sandbank on your left. Bus: Take bus line 632 and exit it at the bus stop “Myllykyläntie”. Then walk down “Myllykyläntie” street for about 400m, before you turn right into “Myllypadontie”. Follow this road for about ~750m, then you should have arrived at kinda “double-junction”. Turn twice right, so the road will lead you into southern direction and straight onto the fence. Walk down the road, till you’ve arrived at the fence and choose your favourite position along the fence or on the dirt-/sandbank on your left. For arrival-shots it might be better to walk up the street (which you have entered at the “double-junction”) a few hundred meters along the dirt-/sandbank, till you are closer to the arrivalpath and have a better view. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 15 as well as line-ups on runway 22R and de-icing shots before 22R departure. |
| TIME | Runway 15/33: From noon till sunset. Runway 04L/22R: From afternoon till sunset, but this depends on the exact angle you wanna spot. |
| MISC. | Nothing really nearby. Ladder not needed for 15 Arrivals, but might be useful for 22R line-ups. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-500mm |
Had some difficulty finding Spot 8 but I found it in the end. It’s an office building that doesn’t look particularly open, but there’s an entrance that is open to the public. I followed the signs towards the Hilton hotel, and about 100m away from the hotel (the covered walkway stops briefly before continuing again, if you have reached the part where the walkway stops and starts again then you have gone too far and the building is just at the start), the entrance to the building is there – the sign on the building has a windsock icon. You then take the lift up to floor 6 and you are there. Hard to explain, and given that the building doesn’t look to the naked eye to be a public building, it is hard to know if you’re in the right place! According to the airport website, there’s supposed to be signage with a windsock to take you there, but the only windsock sign I saw was the one on the building itself. The view itself was pretty good, I was using 600mm (full frame) the entire time though.
Hi Thomas,
thanks for the comment. Edited the info for the spot a bit, the route to get there may change due to the constructions.
-Sev