From the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport to the City

Airports are notorious in all countries when it comes to hailing a taxi to take you to the city center or hotel. Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport (HEL) is unfortunately no exception to this. But, as Finland is highly organised and regulated society, so are the taxis at the Airport. In this post I will explain how you can get a taxi from the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport like a pro, what the regulation is and what are the pricing schemes to which all travelers are entitled to – and which the companies are “trying to hide”.

 

Here is how you find the taxis at the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport

Please note that these steps apply only to a situation where you hail a taxi “on-the-fly” from the Airport taxi queue. Here it´s good to note that all companies offer pre-booked pick-up services from the Airport as well. Special pricing applies to all rides originating from the dedicated Airport taxi company lanes of 1- through 3 to A) Helsinki City Centre (zip codes 00100-00180 and 00220) or to B) within a 5km radious of the Airport itself.

If you´re using other means of transportation (eg. bus, Airport train service, City trams) please read here more about how to get to the meeting point for the tour with Arto.

 

Here are the steps to get a taxi from the Airport without pre-bookings by just walking to the Taxi stand

1. Go outside from the arrivals hall on the ground level to find the taxi stand (if you see ticketing counters for departing flights – go one floor down).
2. At the Taxi stand, you´ll find taxis waiting in 4 queues or lanes. Lanes 1-3 are for the companies (FixuTaxi, Taksi Helsinki and Menevä) which are contract-bound to use specific prices (you´ll find the prices in a streetsign at the top of the queue). The 4th lane is open for all taxis and all prices are freely agreed between the driver and the passanger.
3. Don´t be discouraged even if the queue seems long. The flow of cars is constant and the wait times actually quite short.
4. Select the lane based on your preference. See pricing details below.
5. NOTE! NEVER get into the car without verbally agreeing to the price first! Sometimes the drivers try to push for higher prices with all kinds of excuses but keep firm. If you are taking a taxi from the lanes 1-3 and you´re travelling to or within the designated pricing area – the below pricing is applicable and it´s your right to demand using them.
6. If you can´t reach an agreement, you can choose another driver from any of the lanes. (In this case you might want to make a note of the car register number and the taxi number (visible always in the yellow sign on the roof) and forward them to the taxi company itself with a summary of your negotiation.)
7. Be prepared to show the spelling of the destination address or pointing it out on a Google Map for the driver.
8. In the car you can pay with cash or credit card. Please check that the amount to be charged matches the prices below. All consumer prices are by law inclusive of all taxes in Finland, so no VAT/GST will be added to the price.
9. Ask for a receipt for your records. All drivers are required by law to give you one if the customer so asks. In case of a broken printer or paper outage, it is within your rights to demand a hand written receipt. The receipt is legally required to contain in the minimum the departure and destination locations, license plate number of the vehicle, taxi number and itemised prices with proportional VAT calculations.

These contract prices (VAT24% included, no additional regulatory charges, no gratuities included) are for 1-4 passangers in each of the companies are as follows (as per 5.3.2023, please check for changes) and for all rides originating from the Airport and ending a) within 5km radious from the Airport or b) at the Helsinki City Center (zip codes 00100-00180 and 00220).

All of these taxis are clean, tidy, maintained properly and are safe to ride in. Smoking is banned in all taxis in Finland by law. All drivers have a varying level of English, other languages also available.

 

Pricing and departure lanes of all contracted companies

LANE 1/4 – FixuTaxi

Initial starting fee: 0,00 EUR
EUR/km: 1,81 EUR
Fixed price, under 5km radious: 17,27 EUR
Fixed price to Helsinki City Center/Downtown: 31,82 EUR
Link to pricelist: https://fixutaxi.fi/2022/01/05/lentokenttahinnat/ 

LANE 2/4 – Taksi Helsinki

Initial starting fee: 0,00 EUR
EUR/km: 1,82 EUR
Fixed price, under 5km radious: 10,91 EUR
Fixed price to Helsinki City Center/Downtown: 31,82 EUR
Link to pricelist: https://www.taksihelsinki.fi/en/book-a-taxi/pricelist-from-the-airport-2/

LANE 3/4 – Menevä

Initial starting fee: 9,09 EUR
EUR/km: 1,36 EUR
Fixed price, under 5km radious: 15,45 EUR
Fixed price to Helsinki City Center/Downtown: 35,45 EUR
Link to pricelist: https://meneva.fi/en/airport

LANE 4/4 – Open for all taxis

Initial starting fee: Negotiable
EUR/km: Negotiable
Fixed price, under 5km radious: Negotiable
Fixed price to Helsinki City Center/Downtown: Negotiable

I really do hope that all this helps your arrival into Helsinki and in getting a taxi from the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport like a pro. Personally I always use Taksi Helsinki for my rides, as I´ve found them the most reliable and well-mannered. All of these companies also have downloadable apps available, which do make your stay here in Helsinki more convenient and allow you to pre-book rides as well.

So in conclusion, now that you have your transfer logistics all sorted – how about checking if there is few hours’ time in your calendar for a City tour with me 😀 You can check the tour availability and book your ticket(s) easily below. More information about the destinations we´ll cover on the tour can be found here.