Helsinki-Malmi Airport (, ) is an airfield in Helsinki, Finland, located in the district of Malmi, north-north-east of the city centre. It was opened in 1936. Until the opening of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in 1952, it was the main airport of Helsinki and of Finland. After that, it was used for general aviation and flight training, and remained the second-busiest airport in Finland, as measured by the number of landings, after Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. The city of Helsinki, which owns the land the airport is located on, terminated its lease agreement for aviation purposes in December 2019, and its remaining runway was closed in March 2021, but several legal complaints are pending in courts. The city plans to use the land for the construction of approximately 25,000 new apartments starting in 2024. The airfield area, including the runways and taxiways, was opened for public recreation in February 2022. History The first land airport of Helsinki, located in Tattarisuo in the township of Malmi, became operational in December 1936. The area is now in the district of Malmi in Helsinki. The airplanes of Aero Ltd (now Finnair) were converted from floatplanes to land-based aircraft without delay and moved to the new airport along with general aviation aircraft. The functionalist terminal building was completed in 1938 and designed by architects Dag Englund and Vera Rosendahl. The official opening ceremony took place on 15 May 1938. Helsinki-Malmi Airport was among the first in the world to be designed from the beginning as an international airport. It made travel to and from the capital of Finland much faster than before. In the late 1930s, domestic air routes already reached all the major cities in Finland, and in 1940 it became possible to fly even to Petsamo in the far north. The Winter War interrupted civil aviation at Malmi, and the airport was taken over by the Finnish Air Force. Civilian traffic was moved to other airfields. In the Continuation War, both civilian and military traffic used Malmi Airport. When the Continuation War ended in September 1944, the airport was taken over by the Allied Control Commission. It was returned to the supervision of the Finns at the end of 1946. During the war, bigger and heavier aircraft had been developed, and after the war the aircraft industry and commercial aviation business flourished. Malmi Airport was confronted by a new situation. It became evident that the runways,