Vantaa HEL
Cheap flights from Helsinki take off from Vantaa airport, the airport that serves the Finnish capital and the one you will see listed as HEL. It sits in Vantaa, the town that gives it its name, just outside Helsinki, so plan on a run out of the city rather than a hop across town. The departure boards lean European: Dubrovnik, London, Vienna, Milan, Thessaloniki, Stockholm, Warsaw and Tromso all feature among the destinations served. If you are flying south for a city break or north for a winter trip, this is where your journey starts.
Vantaa at a glance
- Passengers per year
- 16.3 M (2024)
- Hub for
- Finnair, Norwegian, Nordic Regional Airlines
- Elevation
- 180 m
- Opened
- 1952
- Official website
- finavia.fi
- Population of Helsinki
- 694 k (2025)
Country facts: Wikidata
Getting to the city
Vantaa sits outside Helsinki, so build the transfer into your day rather than treating it as a quick hop. Trains and buses link the airport with the city centre, and both are the easy choice if you are travelling light or arriving in the morning rush. Taxis and ride-hailing cars are there too, but the drive takes longer than the map suggests once traffic builds, so leave a buffer before check-in. If your flight leaves early, check the first departures before you book a late hotel; if it lands after midnight, sort your ride before you fly.