The City of Helsinki has ordered the final emptying of the original aircraft hangar of Helsinki-Malmi Airport to take place today. The work will proceed before noon. An effort will be made to finish up some ongoing aircraft maintenance work during the day.
The pilot school BF-lento Ltd and several other aircraft owners have until now used the hangar according to the terms of their old leases for aircraft storage and maintenance, defying the eviction notices. Full rent has been paid all the time, and the City has not contested these payments.
The City of Helsinki terminated the hangar tenants’ temporary leases two years ago on dubious grounds. According to the presenting official of the committee, no offers of rent had been received, even though several of them had been filed. Later on, the chief of the City’s corporate leasing unit turned down these offers. The committee rejected the demands for rectification, and the matter was taken to Administrative Court in summer 2017. The court has not yet given its ruling in the matter.
Meanwhile, the City filed for the eviction of its tenants in court, and according to the ruling of the Supreme Court, the City’s execution office has put the eviction into effect. The owners will now move their aircraft outdoors to avoid damages caused by untrained movers.
The hangar will be left empty
No grounds for preventing the use of the space for aircraft storage have been officially given. The given reasons include, among others, using the hangar for events and the City’s own needs. A demand for rectification was filed, but it too was rejected claiming risk assessment as the reason. No written risk assessment has emerged upon request. The latest announcement on the City’s Twitter account specifies “the old age of the electric systems” as the reason for emptying the hangar.
Originally, the City ordered the hangar emptied with an undated and unsigned notice by 16 May 2017. According to the City, the hangar is at the moment only available to rent for events. According to the legal zoning plan, the area is still an airport and the purpose of the hangar specified in the building permit is aircraft storage.
More information:
BF-lento Ltd, chief of operations Mark Baker, tel. +358 40 731 2000, bflento@gmail.com
Friends of Malmi Airport, chairman Timo Hyvönen, tel. +358 50 374 8371, puheenjohtaja@malmiairport.fi
