HEL · Helsinki (Vantaa), Finland
Helsinki Vantaa Airport.
--:--:-- · EEST (UTC+03:00) · 60.3184° N, 24.9633° E
Helsinki Airport
Airport in Finland
Verification trail
Source-backed facts for HEL
This section separates stable airport identifiers from live operating data. Codes, coordinates, timezone, elevation, source identifiers, and accepted reference links are retained here; live arrivals, departures, gates, delays, NOTAMs, and airline schedule changes must still be checked with the airport or carrier.
Airport catalog
OurAirports ID 2307; ident EFHK; scheduled service listed.
Cached airports.csv snapshot: 2026-04-25; runways.csv snapshot: 2026-05-21.
Official airport source
finavia.fi
Used as the preferred live-reference handoff for terminals, gates, alerts, and airport notices.
Open sourceReference summary
Helsinki Airport
Airport-shaped reference summary from en.wikipedia.org; summary snapshot 2026-05-20.
Open sourceManual / derived signals
19 source-backed signals
Merged from OurAirports cached airports.csv, OurAirports cached runways.csv, Wikidata airport entity snapshot, airport-shaped Wikipedia summary snapshot; facts generated 2026-05-21.
IATA / ICAO
HEL / EFHK
OurAirports ident
EFHK
GPS / local code
EFHK
ISO region
FI-18
Scheduled service
Listed in source snapshot
Role
large scheduled-service airport
Official host
finavia.fi
Reference host
en.wikipedia.org
Wikidata entity
Q215327
Snapshot generated
2026-05-21
Airport lookup keys
Stable codes
Regional keys
Nearby airport codes
Route reference codes
Accepted citation URLs
Last updated May 21, 2026. Stable airport identifiers and timezone facts are content-reviewed; clocks render live in the browser, while weather and time-difference notes are page-snapshot aids rather than permanent airport records.
Live values rendered at Nov 5, 8:20 PM UTC.
What you need to know now
Local airport time
--:--:--EEST · UTC+03:00
Time zone
EEST
Europe/Helsinki · UTC+03:00
Airfield conditions
Live airport weather is temporarily unavailable.
Surface access
17 km
Approximate distance to central Helsinki (Vantaa).
Airport Snapshot
Country capital
Helsinki
Languages
Finnish, Swedish
Currency
EUR (€)
Country area
338,455 km²
Passenger volume
Source note unavailable
Terminals
Not clearly stated
Runways
3 runways
Longest runway
11,286 ft / 3,440 m
Runway surface
asphalt (3)
Opened / operator
1952 · State-owned Finavia
Owner / entity
Q215327
Hub airlines
Mixed or not clearly stated
Airport role
large scheduled-service airport
Scheduled service
Listed
Fact coverage
19 source-backed signals
Helsinki Vantaa Airport is a large scheduled-service airport for Helsinki (Vantaa), Finland. Helsinki (Vantaa)'s built-up core sits roughly 17 km from the terminal area. Operations run on Europe/Helsinki (UTC+03:00, EEST). Live weather is temporarily unavailable. With 3 other indexable airports in its surrounding network, it works well as a reference point for regional flight planning and timezone checks.
Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL / EFHK) is at 60.3184° N, 24.9633° E, elevation 179 ft (55 m), serving Helsinki (Vantaa), Finland.
The accepted reference summary is used as supporting context for the airport identity and operating notes; the timed facts here still come from the airport catalog, timezone database, country snapshot, and linked source trail.
Helsinki (Vantaa) is in Finland (capital Helsinki); on Europe/Helsinki (EEST, UTC+03:00); working languages: Finnish, Swedish; currency: EUR (€).
Distance from central Helsinki (Vantaa): 17 km.
Airport context brief
A compact traveler-facing brief from the airport catalog, country snapshot, route geometry, city anchors, peer airports, and source trail for HEL.
Name and identity cues
Primary airport name
Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL / EFHK)
Helsinki Airport · Airport in Finland
Source identifiers
EFHK · EFHK · FI-18
finavia.fi · en.wikipedia.org · scheduled service yes
Source-specific airport notes
Regional role cue
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport serving Helsinki, the capital of Finland, as well as its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region in Finland.
Accepted from the airport reference trail as a role-specific cue for HEL; not treated as a live service guarantee.
Location cue
The airport is located in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) west of Tikkurila, the administrative centre of Vantaa and 9.2 NM north of Helsinki's city centre.
Used to make the airport page location-specific beyond the code, coordinate, and timezone record.
Closest mapped city anchors
1. Vantaa
vantaa · 5.1 km from HEL
Finland · Europe/Helsinki · +0h · population 252,724 · city coordinates 60.2941, 25.0410
2. Suutarila
suutarila · 5.2 km from HEL
Finland · Europe/Helsinki · +0h · population 19,690 · city coordinates 60.2800, 25.0176
3. Suurmetsä
suurmetsae · 7.4 km from HEL
Finland · Europe/Helsinki · +0h · population 16,452 · city coordinates 60.2696, 25.0540
4. Myyrmäki
myyrmaeki · 8.6 km from HEL
Finland · Europe/Helsinki · +0h · population 18,393 · city coordinates 60.2671, 24.8471
5. Kaarela
kaarela · 8.7 km from HEL
Finland · Europe/Helsinki · +0h · population 26,414 · city coordinates 60.2517, 24.8811
6. Oulunkylä
oulunkylae · 9.9 km from HEL
Finland · Europe/Helsinki · +0h · population 23,854 · city coordinates 60.2292, 24.9640
Airport alternatives in the retained graph
1. LED ULLI
Pulkovo Airport · St. Petersburg
300 km from HEL · Europe/Moscow · +1h · elevation 78 ft (24 m) · airport coordinates 59.8003, 30.2625
2. RIX EVRA
Riga International Airport · Riga
382 km from HEL · Europe/Riga · +0h · elevation 36 ft (11 m) · airport coordinates 56.9208, 23.9707
3. ARN ESSA
Stockholm-Arlanda Airport · Stockholm
398 km from HEL · Europe/Stockholm · -1h · elevation 137 ft (42 m) · airport coordinates 59.6485, 17.9288
Route-time reference set
1. HEL-LED
St. Petersburg · 300 km · 1h 13m
Europe/Moscow · +1h from HEL; reference route only, not a live schedule.
2. HEL-RIX
Riga · 382 km · 1h 19m
Europe/Riga · +0h from HEL; reference route only, not a live schedule.
3. HEL-ARN
Stockholm · 398 km · 1h 20m
Europe/Stockholm · -1h from HEL; reference route only, not a live schedule.
Runway source evidence
Published runway count
3 runways
Longest runway 11,286 ft / 3,440 m. 3 lighted runways in the runway snapshot.
Runway surface mix
asphalt (3)
Surface labels are normalized from the OurAirports runway rows for HEL.
Runway identifiers
04L/22R · 04R/22L · 15/33
Identifier pairs are retained as airport-specific runway cues, not live operational availability claims.
Accepted operational notes
Source note 1
The airport is operated by state-owned Finavia.
Retained as a source-backed local role note for HEL.
Source note 2
The facility covers a total of 1,800 hectares of land and contains three runways.
Retained as a source-backed local role note for HEL.
Country and authority
HEL sits in Finland (Republic of Finland), whose capital is Helsinki. No specific civil-aviation authority label is attached in the current map, so this page avoids inventing one. Country context: Europe, Northern Europe.
Traveler context
Common country-language signals: Finnish, Swedish. Currency context: EUR (€). HEL is listed with scheduled service in the airport source snapshot.
Reference description
Airport in Finland. This description is used only as identity context; live flight status, terminal assignment, and airport alerts still belong to the official airport or airline source.
Source-specific cues
Regional role cue: Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport serving Helsinki, the capital of Finland, as well as its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region in Finland. Location cue: The airport is located in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) west of Tikkurila, the administrative centre of Vantaa and 9.2 NM north of Helsinki's city centre.
Entity fingerprint
Wikidata airport entity: Q215327 · Helsinki Airport. Administrative area: Vantaa. Named after: Helsinki · Vantaa. Entity official-site cross-check: helsinkiairport.fi
Field and clock profile
Helsinki Vantaa Airport is a near sea-level field at 179 ft (55 m), positioned at 60.3184° N, 24.9633° E in the Northern high latitudes. The runway snapshot lists 3 runways and a longest runway of 11,286 ft / 3,440 m. The airport clock uses Europe/Helsinki (EEST, UTC+03:00), so cross-date arrivals should be checked against this zone rather than the airline origin city.
City and airport alternatives
Vantaa is the closest retained city-time anchor at 5.1 km. LED St. Petersburg is the closest retained airport alternative at 300 km.
Country airport peers
HEL has no same-country peer airports retained in the current airport set, so the useful comparison points are its code, coordinates, timezone, and route references.
Route geometry
HEL-LED St. Petersburg: 300 km, about 1h 13m, +1h. HEL-RIX Riga: 382 km, about 1h 19m, +0h. HEL-ARN Stockholm: 398 km, about 1h 20m, -1h. These are distance and timezone references, not live flight availability claims.
Source trail
OurAirports ident EFHK backs the stable code, coordinate, elevation, and timezone record. finavia.fi is attached as the official airport website. en.wikipedia.org is used only as supporting reference context. Snapshot date: 2026-05-21.
Operational Profile
Traffic profile
Reference airport
Airline role
Mixed commercial service
Terminal footprint
See operational notes
Runway footprint
3 runways · longest 11,286 ft / 3,440 m
Runway identifiers
04L/22R, 04R/22L, 15/33
OurAirports classifies HEL as a large airport with scheduled service, which gives it stronger planning value than a code-only lookup.
HEL (EFHK) is a near sea-level field at 179 ft (55 m) in the high latitudes, kept in the curated set for its route, timezone, and market-planning value.
HEL sits in a broader regional network with 3 nearby curated alternatives, so airline choice and connection strategy are part of the planning story here.
HEL's runway record lists 3 runways, with the longest runway at 11,286 ft / 3,440 m and source surfaces recorded as asphalt (3).
State-owned Finavia is the clearest operator or management signal we currently have on file for HEL.
- The airport is operated by state-owned Finavia.
- The facility covers a total of 1,800 hectares of land and contains three runways.
These operational notes prefer the structured airport facts snapshot, then fall back to the accepted airport reference at finavia.fi, then blend that with local timezone, route, and city-access data already on this page.
Decision matrix for HEL
These are the specific situations where this airport page earns its keep: time-zone conversion, city transfer planning, nearby airport backup logic, and source-confidence checks before acting.
When the clock matters
HEL uses Europe/Helsinki (EEST, UTC+03:00). Use this before overnight arrivals, cross-date departures, and same-day connections.
When surface access matters
Helsinki Vantaa Airport is about 17 km from central Helsinki (Vantaa); build that transfer into arrival and check-in planning.
When alternates matter
LED St. Petersburg is the closest retained alternate at 300 km, time difference +1h.
When source checks matter
finavia.fi is listed as the official airport website in the airport facts snapshot; live schedules, gates, routes, terminals, and NOTAM-sensitive operations still need official airport or airline verification.
How this airport compares nearby
These comparisons place HEL inside the retained airport graph by country, timezone, elevation, and coordinate neighbors. They are deterministic dataset facts, not generated flight claims.
Country-rank position
HEL ranks #1 in the curated Finland airport set when large airports are listed before medium airports, then sorted by IATA code. The retained country set has 1 airport.
Same-zone airport cohort
HEL has no other retained airport in the same IANA zone cohort, making Europe/Helsinki a more distinctive signal for this page.
Elevation-neighbor cohort
HEL is 179 ft (55 m). Closest elevation peers in the retained airport set include DAR 182 ft (55 m) (3 ft delta) · BRU 175 ft (53 m) (4 ft delta) · BDL 173 ft (53 m) (6 ft delta) · ODS 172 ft (52 m) (7 ft delta) · HBE 171 ft (52 m) (8 ft delta).
Coordinate-neighbor check
HEL's nearest retained coordinate neighbors are LED 300 km +1h · RIX 382 km +0h · ARN 398 km -1h.
Flight Path Arc
Great-circle route between airports with animated plane. Pick a route.
Arriving From / Departing To
| Destination | Route code | Distance | Estimated window | Time difference | Destination clock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Petersburg | LED | 300 km | 1h 13m | +1h | --:--:-- |
| Riga | RIX | 382 km | 1h 19m | +0h | --:--:-- |
| Stockholm | ARN | 398 km | 1h 20m | -1h | --:--:-- |
HEL to LED
St. Petersburg
Distance 300 km; estimated travel window 1h 13m; destination zone Europe/Moscow is +1h from HEL. Use the live destination clock on this page as a cross-timezone planning cue, not as a live flight schedule.
HEL to RIX
Riga
Distance 382 km; estimated travel window 1h 19m; destination zone Europe/Riga is +0h from HEL. Use the live destination clock on this page as a cross-timezone planning cue, not as a live flight schedule.
HEL to ARN
Stockholm
Distance 398 km; estimated travel window 1h 20m; destination zone Europe/Stockholm is -1h from HEL. Use the live destination clock on this page as a cross-timezone planning cue, not as a live flight schedule.
Airport Details
Timezone
Ground Transport and Nearby Context
The airport sits in the normal outer-ring range for a major metro gateway, so rail, shuttle coach, and ride-hail all matter when you judge the fastest arrival.
Helsinki is the nearest mapped city anchor in the current dataset, which makes it the cleanest companion page when travelers want to switch from airport timing into local city timing.
Helsinki Vantaa Airport has 3 nearby indexed airport alternatives, which makes backup departures and diversion logic part of real planning instead of a theoretical edge case.
Nearby city time anchors
Airport pages are most useful when they bridge into real city clocks. These city anchors are ranked by distance from HEL, then shown with their own timezone, local time, and time difference from the airport clock.
Vantaa
vantaa · 5.1 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Suutarila
suutarila · 5.2 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Suurmetsä
suurmetsae · 7.4 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Myyrmäki
myyrmaeki · 8.6 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Kaarela
kaarela · 8.7 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Oulunkylä
oulunkylae · 9.9 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Tuusula
tuusula · 10 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Viikki
viikki · 11 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Haaga
haaga · 11 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Pitäjänmäki
pitaejaenmaeki · 12 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Mellunkylä
mellunkylae · 12 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Kerava
kerava · 12 km · Europe/Helsinki
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Diff
- +0h
Airlines and Network Role
Helsinki Vantaa Airport does not have a long carrier list in the current source trail, so this page emphasizes the durable pieces travelers can safely use here: local time, field identifiers, nearby airports, and timezone differences.
The route timing references show the first cross-timezone planning burden after this airport: St. Petersburg (LED), Riga (RIX), Stockholm (ARN). Treat them as distance and clock cues, then verify flight availability with the carrier.
Planning checkpoints
- Traffic signal: not clearly stated in the source trail.
- Terminal footprint: not clearly stated in the source trail.
- Runway footprint: 3 runways; longest runway 11,286 ft / 3,440 m; identifiers 04L/22R, 04R/22L, 15/33.
- Runway surfaces: asphalt (3); 3 lighted runways in the source snapshot.
- Operator / management: State-owned Finavia.
- Opened / inaugurated: 1952.
- Network role: mixed or not clearly stated in the source trail.
Nearby Airports
Nearby airports are ranked by coordinate distance from HEL. The time difference column is computed from IANA zones against the page snapshot, while the local clocks update in the browser.
Pulkovo AirportLED
St. Petersburg · large airport
- Distance
- 300 km
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Time diff
- +1h
- Elevation
- 78 ft (24 m)
Compare against LED when route choice, backup departures, or arrival-side local time matters.
Riga International AirportRIX
Riga · large airport
- Distance
- 382 km
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Time diff
- +0h
- Elevation
- 36 ft (11 m)
Compare against RIX when route choice, backup departures, or arrival-side local time matters.
Stockholm-Arlanda AirportARN
Stockholm · large airport
- Distance
- 398 km
- Local time
- --:--:--
- Time diff
- -1h
- Elevation
- 137 ft (42 m)
Compare against ARN when route choice, backup departures, or arrival-side local time matters.
Companion Planning Tools
Questions
FAQ
What timezone is Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL) in?▾
Helsinki Vantaa Airport is in the Europe/Helsinki timezone (UTC+03:00, EEST).
What are the codes for Helsinki Vantaa Airport?▾
Helsinki Vantaa Airport uses IATA code HEL and ICAO code EFHK.
Where is Helsinki Vantaa Airport located?▾
Helsinki Vantaa Airport is located in Helsinki (Vantaa), Finland at coordinates 60.3184° N, 24.9633° E, with an elevation of 179 ft (55 m) (near sea-level field in the high latitudes).
How far is Helsinki Vantaa Airport from central Helsinki (Vantaa)?▾
Helsinki Vantaa Airport sits roughly 17 km from the nearest mapped city center for Helsinki (Vantaa).
Which route reference is most useful from HEL?▾
St. Petersburg (LED) is one of the closest route references on this page, with an estimated travel window of 1h 13m, destination timezone Europe/Moscow, and a +1h difference from HEL.
How many runways does Helsinki Vantaa Airport have?▾
Helsinki Vantaa Airport's source-backed operational summary lists 3 runways, with the longest runway recorded at 11,286 ft / 3,440 m; identifiers include 04L/22R, 04R/22L, 15/33.