Connecting flights
General
A gate agent usually meets passengers exiting the aircraft, directing them to their connecting flights and helping customers who need special assistance, such as children travelling alone. Passengers needing special assistance are helped out of the plane once the other passengers have exited.
Service map of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.
Inside the airport, signs direct you to your connecting flights, customs clearance and baggage claim. The monitors above the baggage carousels show where baggage from different flights will arrive. There is a separate carousel for special baggage.
- The gate number of your connecting flight will be displayed on the airport monitors but you can also contact the Transfer Service desk for further assistance.
- If you do not have a boarding pass for your connecting flight, the Transfer Service desk can issue one to you. The Transfer Service desks, at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, are located near gates 25 and 30 in Terminal 2.
- If you have not checked your baggage for the entire trip, you must claim your baggage at a baggage carousel in the Baggage Claim area and you may have to go through customs.
Business Class
- When you travel in Business Class, you are allowed to exit the plane before the Economy Class passengers.
- A Priority tag will be attached to your baggage to ensure fast delivery to the Baggage Claim area.
- As a Business Class traveller you can also enjoy the lounge services at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and most international destinations.
Baggage transported in the hold
The main function of a bag is to protect its contents against damage. Baggage processing at the airport is done quickly and mechanically, which causes normal wear and tear. Finnair is not responsible for minor damage to checked baggage, unless the damage renders the baggage unusable. International regulations limit the liability of airlines for damage to checked baggage; therefore, it is in your interest to insure your baggage for its full value.
The baggage you have checked in to your final destination will be transferred automatically from one Finnair flight to another and from a Finnair flight to a flight operated by another oneworld airline, and vice versa. If your connecting flight is on the same ticket, your baggage is automatically transferred to flights operated by other airlines as well, unless rules by the authorities, such as customs regulations, prevent this. For responsibility reasons, baggage on a separate ticket is transferred to the connecting flight only when the airlines have so separately agreed. Baggage is carried on the same flight as the passenger.
Minimum connecting times
The connecting times between Finnair's own flights and between Finnair flights and code-share partners' flights are reasonably short at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, compared to the other main airports in Europe. The connecting times mentioned below, however, only apply between Finnair flights and flights operated by other airlines, if the flights have been issued on the same ticket. The connecting times for other airlines' flights and at other destinations vary.
| Minimum connecting times between flights | |
|---|---|
| Domestic flight -> Domestic flight: | 25–35 minutes |
| Domestic flight -> International flight: | 35 minutes |
| International Schengen flight -> International flight | 35 minutes |
| International non-Schengen flight -> International flight: | 40 minutes |
| International Schengen flight -> Domestic flight: | 35 minutes |
| International non-Schengen flight -> Domestic flight | 40 minutes |
| To or from a Leisure flight: | 75 minutes |
Transporting liquids on connecting flights
The EU regulations restricting the transport of liquids in the aircraft cabin apply to tax-free shopping as well, if the trip contains a connecting flight from an EU country, including flights within Finland. Local regulations may restrict the carriage of tax-free items on connecting flights originating from non-EU countries.
- Liquid tax-free items can be purchased, as usual, in the security-cleared area of the airport in the originating country and on the aircraft when flying without connecting flights within the EU, from an EU country to a non-EU country or from a non-EU country to an EU country.
- Liquid tax-free items are also allowed in the cabin if your trip includes a connecting flight within the EU (for example Paris–Helsinki–Stockholm) or within an EU country (Paris-Helsinki-Oulu). You must have purchased your tax-free items in the security-cleared area of an airport in an EU country or on an aircraft belonging to an airline registered in an EU country and the items must have been packed in sealed plastic bags.
- Present the unopened plastic bag and the receipt of the purchase at the security check.
- Place the receipt inside the bag so that it is legible from the outside.
- Liquid tax-free items are not allowed in the cabin when you arrive from a non-EU country and have a connecting flight from Helsinki, if you purchased the items at an airport in a non-EU country or on an aircraft registered in a non-EU country.
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In some non-EU countries, personnel in tax-free shops may claim that they can package the purchases in sealed plastic bags complying with the EU regulations. This is not true. Regardless of any seals on the bags, all containers of liquid exceeding 100 millilitres, bought at an airport in a non-EU country, will be confiscated at the security control at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, if your trip includes a connecting flight from Helsinki. |
Keywords
Connecting flights
Customs clearance
Baggage claim
Gate number
Business Class
Minimum connecting times
Liquids
Tax-free
