This airport has a sauna right on its runway

The wooden structure right by the runway is a way to highlight the beloved local pastime.

Jun 13, 2025 - 00:14

This airport has a sauna right on its runway

While most airports are not particularly fun to either get to or be in (looking at you, Newark), some aim to make that in-transit process as exciting as possible with designs and features that show off the local destination.

Repeatedly topping lists of the best airports in the world, Singapore's Changi Airport (SIN) is best known for The Jewel retail space running across all four terminals — the color-changing Rain Vortex is the largest indoor waterfall in the world, while the wider airport development has over 300 stores and restaurants offering both global and Singaporean specialties across 10 stories.

The entire space is also designed in the style of a garden with 2,000 trees and over 100,000 shrubs spread throughout the development and dedicated butterfly, orchid and cactus gardens for travelers in different parts of the airport to discover.

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'Transit to Finnish happiness' is a runway sauna

In its own effort to highlight local culture, Helsinki Airport (HEL) has installed a sauna just outside one of the runways from which planes take off.

Built by Finnish airport management company Finavia, the sauna is a small wooden structure approximately a hundred feet from one of the airport's three runways. Placed there for a promotional campaign, it is not designed to be used by travelers but to draw attention to Finland and the country's beloved pastime of going to the sauna.

"Most airports have transit zones, some even have saunas, but only Helsinki Airport can offer a transit to Finnish happiness," Finavia's Head Of Marketing Anna Tuomi said in a statement. "[…] To showcase this short transition, we built the world’s first runway sauna at Helsinki Airport."

For those who do want to catch some heat in between flights, Helsinki Airport has one sauna in the Finnair (FNNNF) Finn Platinum Wing Lounge, available to high-fare and status travelers, and another in the Plaza Premium Lounge to which travelers can purchase access.

In April 2025, Finland’s flagship airline also unveiled a sauna available to business-class travelers on one of its Airbus A350 (EADSF) planes. A traditional Finnish sauna can reach temperatures of up to to 120°C (250°F), while the dry heat is what allows it to be installed at lower temperatures even in an in-flight environment.

A sauna was installed near one of the three runways at Helsinki Airport.
Image source: Finavia

'Sauna is an essential part of Finnish culture'

"Sauna is an essential part of Finnish culture […] so it was only natural for us to bring it on board," Finnair's Lead Cabin Wellness Designer L. Öyly said in a statement when the cabin sauna was unveiled in April. "There is no better way to relax before landing than with a steamy session above the clouds."

More on travel:

A Nordic nation that is territorially near but not formally part of Scandinavia, Finland has experienced a boost in popularity among North American and other overseas tourists in recent years.

The country’s international travel and tourism market is expected to reach a record $3.51 billion in revenue by the end of 2025, while the 1.47 million visitors who stayed in Helsinki and other parts of Finland for more than one night in April 2025 represent a 14% increase from the same period a year ago.