MALMI (EFHF). Only GA airport in Finland to be destroyed
 

Helsinki city council and their "Co-criminals" are doing their best to destroy a historically significant airport of Malmi (EFHF). Have a look at the Wikipedia article, the link in English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki-Malmi_Airport

Malmi is very similar to Bromma in Sweden or what Chicago Meigs Field was, as it located very close to the centre of Helsinki and could be developed in same ways as Bromma was. Instead the plan is to move it's present day funcions in the middle of nowhere and have the same sad ending as Meigs Field had.

The whole story of Malmi airport here in English and a petition, should you feel like helping http://www.pelastamalmi.org/en/index.html

Here is a link to the page where the you can give an input to the government in Finland and read about the whats' and why's Unfortunately available only in Finnish and Swedish
http://www.toinenlentokentta.info/svenska/index.html

Please give us a hand and spread the info on your local websites and BB's and please sign the petitions on behalf of Malmi airport.

This is a worrying trend around the world where city councils and businessmen alike using pitiful excuses and to advance their own interests close airports and drive general aviation deeper into the abyss making it ever more expensive thus directly affecting the cost of flying and training.

I wonder how long it will take the Toronto NIMBYs to get hold of this...

Meigs was decimated and looks like this trend is ever increasing around the world. City centre GA is probably history and as many of the politicians are hellbent on moving the GA functions to a new location, I think it is just a matter of time when it happens.

One needs to look at who are benefitting about this. It is the large construction companies and if you have a look at who sit in the city government... well suprise suprise what have we there.

Well, you didn't mention about the newest proposal for a replacement of the Malmi facility.

A new airport to replace Malmi Airport in Helsinki could go up about 50 kilometres from the centre of Helsinki. A study conducted by Finavia (Finnish Civil Aviation Administration), found that the most appropriate location for a new airport would be the Backas area in Porvoo. The area, now agricultural land, is a 50-minute drive from the centre of Helsinki, and 20 minutes from the Kehä III ring road.

The report finds that the development of Malmi Airport would require the construction of a new runway, as well as the demolition of one residential area and some industrial area. Upgrading the Malmi Airport would cost an estimated EUR 170 million, while a new airport could be set up in Backas for EUR 126 million. Construction costs at Malmi would be much lower than in Backas, but acquiring the land needed for the project would be much higher in Helsinki.

The capital city of Finland is still almost non-existent on the route maps of all the major low-cost carriers, there are no plans for a no-frills terminal in Vantaa. Porvoo-Backas could fulfill this gap.

Reading about Malmi reminds me of this absolutely gorgeous photo I saw of it some time ago on Airliners.net:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?i...80&tbl=AIRPORT

Presumably the terminal is protected/listed and will be preserved, even if the GA facility is moved?

Nope I didnt mention Sipoo alternative. It is Malmi and GA there that was the focus of my post not the LoCo possibilities.

Cost estimates that Finavia have done are notoriously inaccurate and prone to over-runs. This applies to both the proposed location and Malmi itself. However building an airport from scratch is never a task that should be taken lightly and guaranteed it will cost a lot more what the initial estimates are.

As you so kindly pointed out to me that I forgot to mention the Sipoo option, I'll remind you of the fact that Sipoo, their city council and people living there are not warming towards the idea. In essence they dont want it there.

Regardless Malmi is about 25 min drive away from the large suburbs West of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen etc. If I drove from where I live it would take easily over an hour on a good day with no traffic and good weather to the proposed location. Just have a look at the driving distance from the middle of Helsinki to Malmi and it is hardly ever longer than about 30 min. Finland has a lot to learn from Bromma in Stockholm, Sweden. This airport is being developed and managed properly.

In Finland it seems that closing airports is becoming a national hobby for Finavia. Just as a reminder: Once an airport is closed and it's taxyways, runways plowed away for "Brown" land (For construction purposes) or "Green" land for recreational land, the airport is gone and will not come back without a gargantuan investment. Decisions made today will have far reaching consoquenses and affect the lives of future generations in those areas affected.

Regardless of the difference of opinnion here, I appreciate your comments as it achieves my goal, to create discussion about the future of the busiest airport in Finland.

Akerosid. The building itself is protected as in my opinnion should be the whole airport.

JJflyer - exactly. When people ask me why I think CYTZ should be retained, I mention that if the land was green space I would never consider building an airport there, but it isn't - the land contains an asset which would take tens if not hundreds of millions to construct from scratch, and which if used properly could be one arm of a strategy to defer the pillaging of prime agricultural land in Pickering (a reliever airport proposed for northeast of Toronto).

Meigs
 

Meigs was an ongoing discussion and one night the city of Chicago just decided to bulldoze the runways and that was it, the airport was closed and gone for ever.

Malmi Airport to be closed down in 2016
 

MAYDAY ! MAYDAY !

News from Finland Helsinki Times:
"Malmi Airport to be closed down in 2016"

AOPA Finland fights on to save Helsinki Malmi airport

Sampo Kiviniemi´s photography from Helsinki - Malmi Airport

Please read links and effect all ways anywhere you are to save Malmi Airport (EFHF).

Regards, Klaus


The Friends of Malmi Airport Society

Is this where Boris got his stupid idea from?

According to the latest reports, Helsinki city council just voted 9-6 to close EFHF down. Let us hope this decision is not definitive, and try to fight it in every way possible.