The fate of Malmi Airport is still open

Press release 17 January 2005 9:00pm
available for publication

The decision and justifications given by Helsinki City Board for shutting down the operation of Malmi Airport prematurely in 2010 do not stand up to closer scrutiny. The decision is hasty and completely unilateral, says the Friends of Malmi Airport Society. The matter is not for the City of Helsinki to decide alone.

The Society will continue its work to protect and develop the present activities of the Airport. In addition, the Society points out that the City's General Plan 2002, where it concerns Malmi Airport, isn't even legal yet. The matter is still under consideration in Helsinki Administrative Court. In the legal City Plan Malmi Airport is a traffic area. The Airport will continue its operation according to the original land cession agreement until the matter has been taken to all instances of appeal.

The Society also wishes to point out that the Airport as a whole has been acknowledged as an internationally significant cultural treasure. In the matter of Malmi Airport, the State of Finland is bound by the UNESCO Declaration Concerning Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage, signed in October 2003.

The Friends of Malmi Airport Society was founded in 2002. Already more than 30.000 people have signed the Society's Petition to Save Malmi Airport at http://www.pelastamalmi.org .

More information:
Tero Auranen
chairman
Friends of Malmi Airport Society
e-mail: Tero.Auranen(at)pelastamalmi.org
tel: 040-5729765