Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2015 | Page 60

Photos: Lundén Architecture Oy / Garla & Park

International expo area is connected directly to the city centre and gates.

Off the Ground
AiRRport promises to unleash the true potential of air,
road and rail traffic
There’s a real game-changer in the works in the Tampere Region. The idea is to revolutionise air travel – or rather, to
make sure that air traffic fulfils Tampere’s promise as a Smart City of tomorrow. Known as the AiRRport concept, the
new logistics scheme promises to bridge air with road and rail in an unprecedented manner.

K

ari Neilimo, Chairman of the AiRRport
Group, perceives remarkable business
opportunities in the venture. Neilimo
argues that the concept is a “truly strategic”
tool that can rejuvenate business in West and
Central Finland a great deal.
“In today’s world, it’s hard to imagine a company that can survive without
great connections. With the AiRRport concept, we move that much closer to a whole
new world economically. This is bound to
give wings to also new business models and
opportunities.”
Another issue to consider is the Helsinki-Hämeenlinna-Tampere (HHT) economic corridor which is already the number one engine for growth in the country –
but the AiRRport concept can really enhance
its competitiveness, too.
58 Nordicum

Get into the Pipeline
But what is AiRRport all about, then? Private consultant Toni Virkkunen and Jouni
Lehtomaa from Ramboll explain that, at present, goods enjoy better freedom of travel
than people who are being herded from one
security check to another at the airports. We
have come to accept that as part of post9/11 world – but what if there would be an
alternative?
“We have existing infrastructure
in place that should be used to facilitate
smoother air traffic. All that is needed is for
the railway network to be integrated into
the airport in a new way,” Virkkunen says.
This means that if you’re travelling
from, say, Jyväskylä to Tampere to take
a flight, your “travel experience” starts

already at the Jyväskylä railway station as
you go through luggage check. Once you’re
in the train, you’re already in the “flight
zone”. When you arrive to Tampere, you’re
promptly whisked away to the right gate and
fast-track security check – and you’re ready
for take-off.
“Under this de-centralised concept,
standing in lines for extended periods of
time will be eliminated almost altogether,”
says Lehtomaa.

Downtown Dynamics
Also, the service level will improve tremendously. The current trend is to build up airports into massive “semi-cities” with just
about anything a traveler might possibly
need – but this seems rather excessive, given