A group of general aviators from Helsinki-Malmi Airport made a visit to Helsinki-Vantaa on Friday 29th of August during evening hours. All flights were accomplished following aviation law to detail. Each aircraft filed their own flight plan, acquired a slot time from Finavia Helsinki-Vantaa and strictly followed its plan.
This visit was the first one to prepare for moving operations to Helsinki-Vantaa in case Helsinki-Malmi is closed down, as was recently announced. This time only 20 out of 146 general aviation aircraft located at Helsinki-Malmi attended and were warmly welcomed by both Finavia management and Helsinki-Vantaa airport staff, to whom we are more than grateful. We have been informed that general aviation operations have room and a place at Helsinki-Vantaa.
We apologize for any delays or inconvenience that may have resulted from this visit. As Finavia has the state-allocated monopoly in airport services, they also have the statutory responsibility to offer general aviation services in Helsinki area. If Helsinki-Malmi Airport is closed down, general aviation services must be built and offered at Helsinki-Vantaa, as the nearest airport with comparable international service is in Turku more than 150 km away.
We trust and hope that the procedures will be fine-tuned to serve all airport customers efficiently. Helsinki area is Finland’s single busiest center of general aviation. Malmi Airport handles some 42000 flights annually, of which 80% are training flights including ab initio commercial pilot training. In practice this will double the number of operations at Helsinki-Vantaa.
No trainees took part in this first visit, but I am certain that they will be excited to get their flight and radio procedure training in a real environment.
We work hard to keep general aviation operations at Helsinki-Malmi, but we also prepare for the worst. If your airline has any worries, objections or views on this, please share them with Finavia and Friends of Malmi Airport Society.
With best regards,
Timo Hyvönen
Chairman
Friends of Malmi Airport Society
+358 50 3748371
puheenjohtaja@malmiairport.fi
www.malmiairport.fi
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