World Country Guide

Travel - International

Air
The national airline of Finland is Finnair (AY) (website: www.finnair.com). Finland is served by many international airlines including Air Canada, Air France, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, IBERIA, IcelandAir, KLM, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, SWISS and United Airlines.

Approximate flight times
From Helsinki to London is two hours 55 minutes, to New York is eight hours, to San Francisco is 10 hours 10 minutes, to Singapore is 14 hours, to Toronto is eight hours 45 minutes and to Zurich is two hours 55 minutes.

International airports
Helsinki (HEL) (Helsinki-Vantaa) (website: www.ilmailulaitos.com) is Finland’s principal international airport, 18km (11 miles) north of the city (travel time – 25 minutes). Finnair City Bus and other services operate to the city regularly (travel time – 35 minutes). Taxi services are available. Some Helsinki hotels run courtesy coaches. Airport facilities include banks/bureaux de change, duty free shops, car hire (Avis, Budget, Europcar and Hertz), hotel reservation service, VIP lounge, a 24-hour electronic information system with four channels, conference rooms, restaurants, cafes and bars.
The other international airports are Turku (TKU), 7km (5 miles) north of the city; Tampere (TMP), 15km (9 miles) from the city; and Rovaniemi (RVN), 10km (6 miles) from the city.

Departure tax
None.

Sea
Car ferries sail daily from Stockholm and other Swedish ports with Anedin, Birka, Ecker, Finnlines (website: www.finnlines.fi), Silja (website: www.silja.fi) and Viking Lines. Other major Finnish ports are Naantali , Turku and Vaasa. There are also ferry services to Finland from Rostock and Travemnde (Germany) and Tallinn (Estonia). Cruise lines with ships docking in Finnish ports include Birka Line, Costa, Crystal, Cunard, Ecker Line, Fred Olsen, Kristina Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, P&O, Princess, Radisson, Seabourn and Silversea.

Rail
Rail-sea links exist from Hamburg, Copenhagen and Stockholm to Helsinki or Turku. There is a rail connection between Haparanda/Tornio in the north from Sweden, and daily trains to Moscow and St Petersburg.

Road
Most direct road routes include sea ferry links from Sweden or Germany, though there is a northern land link via northern Norway or Sweden to Finnish Lapland, which involves travel within the Arctic Circle. Coach: There are coach services from many European cities, including direct services from London to Helsinki or Turku and Gothenburg with a sea link from Sweden.