City of Helsinki media conference on February 2, 2022 10am at Helsinki-Malmi Airport

Feb 2, 2022

The City of Helsinki is today announcing the opening of the airport area for the recreational use of the city’s residents in the coming days. The event will be held outdoors due to COVID restrictions. It is worthwhile to go to the event to listen to the city’s message and ask appropriate questions.

The event was not attended by real decision-makers, but only by city officials in an expert role. According to project manager Kuisma, there is no official decision made by the city to open the area, but “the city has decided to do so.”

The City of Helsinki plans to open a skating rink in the airport area. For some reason, the skating rink has been raised from the list of abandoned Omastadi initiatives to be implemented, apparently by some official’s decision. No funding or other justification for such use has been provided. The matter will hopefully be resolved at the media conference. 

After the opening, it is possible to walk, run, cycle, skate on the ice rink and go skiing in the fenced area of ​​the airfield. Motor vehicles, such as mopeds and cars, must not be driven there. At present, flight operations are also been suspended with a NOTAM notification valid until 14.3.2022.

Malmi Airport is still officially an airfield. Several legal proceedings are pending on the use and future of the area: a protection proposal under the Building Heritage Act (2015) in the Administrative Court, a review of the legality of town plans in the Administrative Court, a court process on the lease agreement of the airfield area in the Supreme Court, objections to demolition permits, and several reports of offences against the officials’ actions.

The city has also demanded the removal of historical layers of Malmi Airport, e.g. a large poster placed in the lobby in honor of Malmi Airport’s 75th anniversary. The placement of the poster was agreed with Finavia in due course. The agreement has been transferred to the city, as the matter has not been raised in previous years. An appealable decision about the poster’s removal has been requested from the city, but has not yet been received. 

The content of the media event will be announced in the city’s press releases afterwards. If possible, those who are present can stream the occasion, for example, as a live Facebook broadcast.