Finnish airport operator Finavia has finished the overhaul of the Helsinki Airport air traffic zone at a total expense of $7.91m (€7m).
This project was initiated in the summer of 2021 and aimed to provide better taxiing and apron operations of aircraft, along with enhanced management of stormwater.
As part of the renovation, aircraft stands and the stormwater sewer system were renewed while the taxiways and the apron were resurfaced.
Provisional changes were made in the use of runways, taxiways, and parking of airplanes for work in the air traffic area.
Finavia vice president responsible for Helsinki Airport’s runway and apron operations Jani Elasmaa said: “Our aim was to take advantage of the reduced volume of traffic caused by the pandemic. It was easier to do repairs on the apron during quiet times, so we were able to carry out the renovation very smoothly.”
Finavia sustainability and environment vice president Mikko Viinikainen said: “Although air traffic is slowly recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, there are still considerably fewer flights than normal.
“As a result, changes in the principles governing the use of runways did not affect noise management as much as they would have in a normal traffic situation.”
Apart from this upgrade project, Finavia also concluded a project in connection with the long-distance air traffic zone in autumn this year.
This initiative was executed as part of the Helsinki Airport Development Programme.
Under this project, over 300,000m2 area of the apron was refurbished.
Last month, Finavia signed a contract with Airbus Services firm Navblue to install the latter’s collaborative web-based platform RunwaySense.
