Finnair to build new cargo terminal at Helsinki Airport

MAR 26, 2015: Finnair will build a brand new cargo terminal at Helsinki Airport. The new state-of-the-art terminal, with warehouse automation to ensure efficient and high quality operations, is planned to be opened during spring 2017. This is a unique greenfield air cargo terminal project in Europe at the moment and the modern terminal will also feature three separate temperature zones for the handling of general and special cargoes.
“Cargo revenue is an important revenue source for Finnair, with approximately 17 % of intercontinental revenue coming from cargo. Over 80% of shipments transported by Finnair Cargo are transit freight and Finnair’s new Airbus A350 fleet will bring 50% more cargo capacity by year 2020. Therefore, it is essential that we also have a new cargo terminal to ensure smooth handling of these growing cargo flows”, says Juha Järvinen, Finnair, Chief Commercial Officer.
The size of the new terminal will be 35 000 m2 and it includes also special cargo handling areas for pharmaceutical and life science products (Pharma) as well as perishable products, including fish and seafood. Pharmaceutical goods, such as vaccines or biotech medicine, form the most rapidly growing sector in air freight industry, and these goods are also among the most fragile products transported by air, which makes it imperative that they are transported according to strict temperature control regulations. Both the Pharma and Seafood sections of the new terminal ensure special cargo handling in appropriate temperature conditions.
In addition to the special cargo handling zones the new terminal utilizes modern technology and automation to ensure high quality air freight service. There will be an automated storage system as well as a new ULD storage (ETW) system. Prior to the move to the new terminal Finnair Cargo’s ERP system will also be replaced by a new IT solution, with special emphasis on warehouse control features.
The capacity of the new terminal has been planned according to the increased cargo capacity offered by the growing A350 fleet. In addition the terminal’s location was defined to optimize the ground transport from cargo terminal to wide-body aircraft stands at Helsinki Airport. Due to temperature control requirements, the minimization of the ground transport time is essential especially for the special cargoes, such as pharmaceuticals or perishables. The location of the future terminal, near Finnair Technical Opetations area, between the Helsinki Airport heating plant and the Keski-Uusimaa rescue station will nearly cut the ground transport distance to half compared to current situation.