Helsinki-Malmi Airport
Encyclopedia
Helsinki-Malmi Airport is an airport
in the city of Helsinki
, Finland
, located in the district of Malmi, 5.4 NM north north-east of the city centre. Until the opening of the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
in 1952 it was the main airport of Helsinki and all Finland. Today, the airport is still actively used in general aviation
and flight training
. It still is the second busiest airport in Finland after Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, as measured by the number of landings.
For a long time, the City of Helsinki has had plans to close the airport in order to use the area for construction of new residential zones. However, the closure of the airport has been a very controversial issue and its future remains unclear.
, located in Tattarisuo in the township of Malmi, became operational in December 1936. The area is nowadays in the district of Malmi in Helsinki. The airplanes of Aero Ltd (nowadays Finnair
) were converted from floatplanes to land-based aircraft without delay and moved to the new Airport along with general aviation aircraft. The functionalist
terminal building was completed in 1938 and designed by architects Dag Englund and Vera Rosendahl. The official opening ceremony took place on 15 May 1938.
Helsinki-Malmi Airport was among the first in the world to be designed from the beginning as an international airport. It made travel to and from the capital of Finland much faster than before. In the late 1930s, domestic air routes already reached all the major cities in Finland, and in 1940 it became possible to fly even to Petsamo
in the far north.
The Winter War
interrupted civil aviation at Malmi, and the Airport was taken over by the Finnish Air Force
. Civilian traffic was moved to other airfields. In the Continuation War
both civilian and military traffic used Malmi Airport. When the Continuation War ended in September 1944, the Airport was taken over by the Allied Control Commission. It was returned to the supervision of the Finns at the end of 1946.
During the war, bigger and heavier aircraft had been developed, and after the war the aircraft industry and commercial aviation business flourished. Malmi Airport was confronted by a new situation. It became evident that the runways, built originally on a deep layer of clay and swampy topsoil, would require considerable investment if they were to bear the weight of the new big airliners. Cost estimates showed that extending the runways, adding pilework under them and strengthening them in other ways would be too expensive. The plans were abandoned.
A new airfield of international standards was first opened to traffic in 1952 in Seutula, in time for the 1952 Summer Olympics
in Helsinki. It is today known as Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
. Scheduled traffic gradually moved from Malmi to the new airport. Malmi Airport continued to serve a new category of commercial aviation, charter flights, for many years.
Nowadays Malmi Airport is in general aviation
use. Professional flying education and professional aviation as well as private aviation and aviation clubs operate there. 75 to 80 percent of all flights are training flights, and in 2002, 50 percent of all pilots in Finland and two out of three professional pilots were trained there. The Finnish Border Guard
is an important user of the Airport. In special circumstances, Malmi Airport also acts as a backup airfield for Helsinki-Vantaa for lighter passenger aircraft.
Malmi Airport is also popular among people who like outdoor exercise because its environment offers natural scenery and a nature path encircles the airport area. The aviation shows and other public events taking place at the Airport draw tens of thousands of spectators every year. The exceptionally well preserved pre-WWII aviation milieu of Malmi Airport has also received international recognition. It has been selected to the worldwide List of 100 Most Endangered Cultural Sites 2004 by the World Monuments Fund
, and re-selected to the 2006 list. The Airport is also included in the Finnish selection of the international DoCoMoMo Workgroup dedicated to cataloguing and preserving buildings, monuments and sites of the modern movement.
The future of Malmi Airport is uncertain as the City of Helsinki has plans for housing construction on the site. However, the State of Finland has a legally valid land cession agreement with the City of Helsinki until 2034. In January 2005, the Helsinki City Board decided to communicate to the State that the grounds for annulling the land cession agreement exist, and to ask the State to return the land area to the City's control by the end of 2010. The Ministry of Transport and Communications
ordered in June 2005 from the Civil Aviation Administration a new assessment of the alternatives and costs. This Helsinki region airport survey was published on 16 August 2007 and presented in detail the main alternatives of developing the operations at Helsinki-Malmi by building a new long runway equipped with instrument approach facilities and decommissioning all the old runways, and of constructing a new airfield in Backas near the town of Porvoo
, about 50 kilometre east. Two alternatives are also presented for just a helicopter base in Malmi or in Skarpmossen of Sipoo
. The survey is meant to serve as a decision-making aid along with other related material. In February 2008, the Ministry of Transport and Communications commissioned an environmental impact assessment of the survey's alternatives from Finnish Road Administration. The assessment is estimated to take 2–3 years.
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
in the city of Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, located in the district of Malmi, 5.4 NM north north-east of the city centre. Until the opening of the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region and the whole of Finland. It is located in Vantaa, Finland, about west of Tikkurila, the centre of Vantaa, and north of Helsinki city centre...
in 1952 it was the main airport of Helsinki and all Finland. Today, the airport is still actively used in general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
and flight training
Flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills....
. It still is the second busiest airport in Finland after Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, as measured by the number of landings.
For a long time, the City of Helsinki has had plans to close the airport in order to use the area for construction of new residential zones. However, the closure of the airport has been a very controversial issue and its future remains unclear.
History
The first land airport of HelsinkiHelsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, located in Tattarisuo in the township of Malmi, became operational in December 1936. The area is nowadays in the district of Malmi in Helsinki. The airplanes of Aero Ltd (nowadays Finnair
Finnair
Finnair Plc is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters on the grounds of Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland, and its main hub at Helsinki Airport. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both the domestic and international air travel markets in Finland. The largest...
) were converted from floatplanes to land-based aircraft without delay and moved to the new Airport along with general aviation aircraft. The functionalist
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
terminal building was completed in 1938 and designed by architects Dag Englund and Vera Rosendahl. The official opening ceremony took place on 15 May 1938.
Helsinki-Malmi Airport was among the first in the world to be designed from the beginning as an international airport. It made travel to and from the capital of Finland much faster than before. In the late 1930s, domestic air routes already reached all the major cities in Finland, and in 1940 it became possible to fly even to Petsamo
Pechengsky District
Pechengsky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the five in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It is located to the northwest of the Kola Peninsula on the coast of the Barents Sea and borders with Finland in the south and southwest and with Norway in the west, northwest, and north...
in the far north.
The Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
interrupted civil aviation at Malmi, and the Airport was taken over by the Finnish Air Force
Finnish Air Force
The Finnish Air Force is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions...
. Civilian traffic was moved to other airfields. In the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
both civilian and military traffic used Malmi Airport. When the Continuation War ended in September 1944, the Airport was taken over by the Allied Control Commission. It was returned to the supervision of the Finns at the end of 1946.
During the war, bigger and heavier aircraft had been developed, and after the war the aircraft industry and commercial aviation business flourished. Malmi Airport was confronted by a new situation. It became evident that the runways, built originally on a deep layer of clay and swampy topsoil, would require considerable investment if they were to bear the weight of the new big airliners. Cost estimates showed that extending the runways, adding pilework under them and strengthening them in other ways would be too expensive. The plans were abandoned.
A new airfield of international standards was first opened to traffic in 1952 in Seutula, in time for the 1952 Summer Olympics
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...
in Helsinki. It is today known as Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region and the whole of Finland. It is located in Vantaa, Finland, about west of Tikkurila, the centre of Vantaa, and north of Helsinki city centre...
. Scheduled traffic gradually moved from Malmi to the new airport. Malmi Airport continued to serve a new category of commercial aviation, charter flights, for many years.
Present and future
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
use. Professional flying education and professional aviation as well as private aviation and aviation clubs operate there. 75 to 80 percent of all flights are training flights, and in 2002, 50 percent of all pilots in Finland and two out of three professional pilots were trained there. The Finnish Border Guard
Finnish Border Guard
The Finnish Border guard is the national security agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders...
is an important user of the Airport. In special circumstances, Malmi Airport also acts as a backup airfield for Helsinki-Vantaa for lighter passenger aircraft.
Malmi Airport is also popular among people who like outdoor exercise because its environment offers natural scenery and a nature path encircles the airport area. The aviation shows and other public events taking place at the Airport draw tens of thousands of spectators every year. The exceptionally well preserved pre-WWII aviation milieu of Malmi Airport has also received international recognition. It has been selected to the worldwide List of 100 Most Endangered Cultural Sites 2004 by the World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....
, and re-selected to the 2006 list. The Airport is also included in the Finnish selection of the international DoCoMoMo Workgroup dedicated to cataloguing and preserving buildings, monuments and sites of the modern movement.
The future of Malmi Airport is uncertain as the City of Helsinki has plans for housing construction on the site. However, the State of Finland has a legally valid land cession agreement with the City of Helsinki until 2034. In January 2005, the Helsinki City Board decided to communicate to the State that the grounds for annulling the land cession agreement exist, and to ask the State to return the land area to the City's control by the end of 2010. The Ministry of Transport and Communications
Ministry of Transport and Communications (Finland)
The Ministry of Transport and Communications is a government ministry of Finland. Its head office is in Helsinki.-External links:* * *...
ordered in June 2005 from the Civil Aviation Administration a new assessment of the alternatives and costs. This Helsinki region airport survey was published on 16 August 2007 and presented in detail the main alternatives of developing the operations at Helsinki-Malmi by building a new long runway equipped with instrument approach facilities and decommissioning all the old runways, and of constructing a new airfield in Backas near the town of Porvoo
Porvoo
Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century...
, about 50 kilometre east. Two alternatives are also presented for just a helicopter base in Malmi or in Skarpmossen of Sipoo
Sipoo
Sipoo is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Nikkilä/Nickby.It is the eastern neighbour of Helsinki and is located in the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water...
. The survey is meant to serve as a decision-making aid along with other related material. In February 2008, the Ministry of Transport and Communications commissioned an environmental impact assessment of the survey's alternatives from Finnish Road Administration. The assessment is estimated to take 2–3 years.
External links
- Finavia – Helsinki-Malmi Airport, official website
- AIP Finland – Helsinki-Malmi Airport
- The Friends of Malmi Airport Society
- http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN443MvQHSYGYnkH6kShCBvGOCBFfj_zcVH2gEv1Ic5CQv69-VE5qemJypX6wvrd-gH5BbmhEubejIwBlUKgu/delta/base64xml/L0lJSk03dWlDU1lBIS9JTGpBQU15QUJFUkVSRUlrLzRGR2dkWW5LSjBGUm9YZnJDRUEhLzdfM18yT00vNDYzNDU!?WCM_PORTLET=PC_7_3_2OM_WCM&WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/en/City+Planning+Department/Town+Planning/City+planning+projects/MalmiHelsinki City Planning Department: Project Malmi]