Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2012 | Page 52

Closer to Heaven
Airport cities are providing
a glimpse of a more dynamic future

Airports have long ago ceased being just airports. Serving as gateways for the transportation of goods and people from one
region or country to another is passé – the new, much broader concept for an airport designates it as a business destination
in its own right. These new airborne hubs serve as economic engines for their region and local communities, possessing also
national significance.

T

he new concept hasn’t forsaken the traditional aeronautical services, but really the talk of the town is everything
outside the core: new non-aeronautical functions and revenue drivers are steadily emerging, which challenge our view of the traditional airport. From developing real estate into commercial assets and transforming terminals into fully functioning shopping malls to expanding logistics and distribution chains, the buzz of the industry is
diversification.
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The old adage “location, location, location” reigns supreme here. As airports are
typically surrounded by hundreds or even
thousands of hectares of undeveloped land
due to, for instance, environmental reasons,
real estate players have come to recognise
that many international airports are sitting
on a potential goldmine.
What this means is that office blocks,
hotels, convention centres, medical facilities, casinos, free trade zones and even entertainment and theme parks can be built

within or just beyond the airport fence to
generate new sources of revenue for the airport operator.

All Together Now
One of the new aerial power players is
Aviapolis, born around the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport in Finland. What
makes Aviapolis significant also in international comparison is that this airport city was
among the earliest and most ambitious pro-