Finnair sells facilities at Helsinki airport

Finnair has sold its present cargo terminal to Helsinki Airport operator Finavia to make way for Finnair’s new US$85 million Cool Nordic Cargo (CNC) facility, scheduled to open in 2017. The sale also includes Finnair’s stake in an office building that was jointly owned by Finnair and Finavia.

The new 31,000-square-meter facility is expected to double Finnair Cargo’s current terminal capacity to 450,000 tonnes of airfreight per year and accommodate the parent airline’s order of nineteen A350 XWBs, which should begin arriving soon and into 2020. The CNC will also have the option to expand to another 100,000 tonnes per year and add 10,000 square feet of warehouse space if needed.

Meanwhile, the old Finnair terminal will be decommissioned in 2017 and a land-lease agreement for one aircraft hangar has been brought forward to allow Finavia to expand the Helsinki Airport terminal.

Finnair also purchased another hangar from Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co. The transactions will have a combined, nonrecurring positive impact on Finnair’s operating profit in 2015 of approximately US$15.9 million, according to Market Watch.