Flights to Helsinki (HEL)

The following list of airlines is not necessarily complete, but we've tried to cover as much as possible. If I missed an area with SCA life or you know of yet another airline flying from your area to Helsinki, please let webmaster know!

NB. As people with bonus cards prefer to stick to the same airline alliance, the alliances have been marked on the list. Especially with the Star Alliance airlines Lufthansa/SAS/Blue1/Austrian it sometimes pays off to check all of them as they sell tickets to the same plane, but pricing may differ; same goes for Finnair/BA from the UK - for example a ticket to summer coronation cost substantially less with BA than Finnair, even though one leg was flown with a Finnair plane.

As the airline information was checked on each airlines pages, the basic baggage rules for European flights were checked at the same time; recheck before flight and be careful with hand baggage size. Especially when flying with armor, the sports baggage rules may make a difference between two equal airlines.
Tip: All airlines allow one to carry an overcoat separately to the cabin (and in October you may really need one!); if you have a heavy cloak, stuff your coat into the luggage and take the cloak to the plane as your overcoat... Johanna has tested this with her heavy Pelican cloak on Blue1, Finnair, Lufthansa and SAS and it has never been a problem - and gets several kilos off her checked luggage.

Airline listing

Aer Lingus (BA/American codeshare)

Dublin-Helsinki, direct flights, reasonable prices. Separate checked baggage fee, eur 12 (per bag?) if paid in advance, eur 18 if paid at the airport. Weight limit 20 kg, cabin baggage 6 kg. Sports equipment fee eur 30 (40, if paid at the airport) each way for a max. 15 kg bag. Not clear if armor/fencing gear counts as sports equipment, check!

Air Berlin (low-cost airline)

This German low-cost airline flies directly from Berlin (Tegel) and Düsseldorf. It also offered flights with guaranteed transfer from Bremen, Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Milan (Malpensa), Munich, Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zürich; note though, that some of these options don't have a return flight on Sunday (see Air Berlin schedule for flights to and from Helsinki). Checked baggage, snacks and beverages are included in the ticket price.
Checked baggage allowance is 20 kg, hand baggage limit is 6 kg (8 kg for laptop case). Unfortunately Air Berlin now carries only listed sports items as sports baggage and SCA stuff doesn't qualify.

Air France (Sky Team)

Air France sells the tickets to the route Paris CDG-Helsinki, but it is actually flown with Finnair planes, so ticket price includes checked baggage and a meal. Checked baggage allowance 20 kg, hand baggage allowance 12 kg incl. accessories (handbag/laptop/briefcase/camera bag). Stingy with sports equipment, only special listed types have fixed fees, unfortunatelly SCA stuff doesn't seem to fit within those limits.

Austrian Airlines (Star Alliance)

Direct flights from Vienna to Helsinki. For flights from the other Austrian cities, check both Austrian and Lufthansa, the latter may be cheaper. Checked luggage and a meal are included in the ticket price. Web checkin available, in Vienna also "check in the night before" service.
Checked baggage allowance 20 kg, hand baggage 8 kg. Flat fees for sports equipment, small (up to 15 kg and/or 1.4 meters) 20 eur/piece each way, medium (15-30 kg and/or 1.41-2 meters) 40 eur/piece each way.

Blue1 (Star Alliance)

Blue1 is a regional member of SAS/Star Alliance and Finnair's closest competitor on many routes to and within Finland. Direct flights from Stockholm, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Hamburg, London Heathrow, Paris, Zurich and Athens (and a few other cities less important to us) to Helsinki. Ticket price includes checked baggage, but you have to pay for all food and drink onboard. Good online checkin facilities, uses SAS checkin desks/dropoffs at most airports.
Checked bag allowance 20 kg, hand baggage max. 8 kg. Normal overweight charges apply to sports equipment in economy class.

British Airways (One World)

Direct flights London Heathrow to Helsinki, sometimes worth a look also for flights from elsewhere on the British Isles to Helsinki, but these mostly involve a transfer, usually at LHR. Price includes checked luggage and a cold meal/snack.
Checked luggage 1 bag of max. 23 kg, hand baggage one piece of max. 23 kg (but you have to be able to lift your bag into overhead locker), a laptop sized bag or briefcase or handbag is allowed in addition to the main hand baggage piece. One piece of sporting equipment packed in its own case is carried free of charge, for example a bow case. Not clear what they think of fencing equipment and armor, so see the BA sports equipment rules and check with the local BA office as needed. Note also that this generosity applies only to flights flown by BA, not to codeshare flights; if you buy BA tickets but fly on a Finnair plane, they may be more uptight about hand baggage weight and sports equipment fees - make sure you know what you are getting!

Finnair (One World)

The Finnish national carrier flies directly to Helsinki from most of the European capitals and several other larger cities, for example Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Manchester, Gothenburg... Ticket price includes hold baggage and a reasonable meal, also good with online checkin. Finnair check-in at Helsinki airport is open all day, so you if you have an evening flight back home, you can drop off your checked baggage in the morning, visit Helsinki and come back an hour before your flight.
Checked baggage 20 kg, stingy with sports equipment types (check with your country's Finnair office), hand luggage one bag of max. 8 kg.

Lufthansa (Star Alliance)

The German national carrier flies to directly from Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg to Helsinki, flights from other German cities are sold with a transfer and usually expensive. Helsinki is now included in their online checkin system.
Checked baggage allowance 20 kg, hand baggage max. 8 kg. Fixed excess baggage fees for sports bags, small bag (up to 15 kg and/or 1.40 m) costs eur 35, medium bag (15-32 kg and/or 1.41-2 m) costs eur 70. Sports bags must be declared before flight; i.e. when you have your booking, call the local Lufthansa office about your sports equipment. See also Lufthansa's special baggage page.

KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) (Sky Team)

Direct flights from Amsterdam to Helsinki, also good for flights from smaller UK airports like Bristol, Birmingham and London City, with a transfer at Amsterdam (a lot of walking and security checks, but otherwise easy - Johanna has done this ten times and this far baggage has always made it on the same flight). Flight ticket price includes hold luggage and a cold meal/snack. Checked baggage allowance 20 kg, hand baggage 12 kg (including accessories outside the bag like briefcase, laptop and camera). Our type of sports equipment is subject to normal excess baggage fees if not within free allowance.

SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) (Star Alliance)

Direct flights from Stockholm, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Hamburg, London (LHR), Paris and Zürich to Helsinki (with transfer flights from other Swedish cities to Helsinki, but these are usually expensive). Only Stockholm and Copenhagen are flown on SAS planes, the other routes are Blue1 codeshare and mostly tickets are cheaper when bought directly from Blue1. Ticket price includes checked baggage, but food and drink have to be purchased.
Baggage allowance same as for Blue1: checked bag allowance 20 kg, hand baggage max. 8 kg. Normal overweight charges apply to sports equipment in economy class.

Swiss (Star Alliance)

Switzerland's national airline flies from Zurich to Helsinki. It seems that checked baggage and a meal are included in the ticket price. Checked baggage allowance 20 kg, hand baggage allowance 8 kg. Sports equipment charges similar to Lufthansa's.

Ryan Air isn't included in the listing above because if flies to Tampere (TMP), a city 2 hrs north of Helsinki and without any reasonable connections to the event site. If you decide to fly to Tampere, you will have to arrange for your own transportation - for late arriving flights from Stansted and Frankfurt-Hahn this means in practice renting a car and driving (in the dark!) for 1.5-2 hrs to get there. For more information, see what Johanna wrote about Ryan Air and Crown Tourney on Drachenwald's mailing list (and maybe also the follow-up by Johanna, too).

EasyJet is already selling tickets for Gatwick-Helsinki flights, but unfortunately the route doesn't open until November 3; handy for us for University, but not early enough for Crown Tourney. That's why it isn't listed above!