Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport serving Helsinki, the capital of Finland, as well as its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region in Finland. The airport is located in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) west of Tikkurila, the administrative centre of Vantaa and 9.2 NM north of Helsinki's city centre. The airport is operated by state-owned Finavia. The facility covers a total of 1,800 hectares of land and contains three runways.
Finnair Plc is the flag carrier and largest full-service legacy airline of Finland, with headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international air travel in Finland. Its major shareholder is the government of Finland, which owns 55.9% of its shares. Finnair is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance.
A Ferris wheel is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, they are kept upright, usually by gravity. Some of the largest modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on the outside of the rim, with electric motors to independently rotate each car to keep it upright. These cars are often referred to as capsules or pods.
Helsinki-Malmi Airport was an airfield that served Helsinki, the capital of Finland, located in the district of Malmi, 5.4 NM 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.
Ylläs, or Yllästunturi in Finnish, is a 718-metre (2,356 ft) high fell in the municipality of Kolari in Lapland Province of Finland. There are two villages near Ylläs: Äkäslompolo on the north side and Ylläsjärvi in the south. They are connected by an 11 km road, around the side of the fell. Both villages derive much of their income from tourism.
The Myrtle Beach Skywheel is a 187-foot tall (57.0 m) observation wheel located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, that opened May 20, 2011. At the time of its opening was the second-tallest extant Ferris wheel in North America, after the 212-foot (64.6 m) Texas Star in Dallas, and the tallest wheel in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It is now the sixth-tallest Ferris wheel in the United States.
Pixar Pal-A-Round is a 150-foot-tall (46 m) eccentric wheel at Disney California Adventure, at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The attraction opened to the public on February 8, 2001, at Paradise Pier as the Sun Wheel. Inspired by Wonder Wheel at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Coney Island, which also features both sliding and fixed gondolas, Pixar Pal-A-Round has a large pie-eyed Mickey Mouse face at its center.
The Skyvue Las Vegas Super Wheel is an unfinished giant Ferris wheel near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, US. Only the concrete pillars were built. Construction of the wheel and the proposed larger 3-phase project for the site — London, Las Vegas — was abandoned, and the plot was sold in 2020 and then advertised for sale again in 2022.
The Seattle Great Wheel is a 53-meter tall giant Ferris wheel at Pier 57 on Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington, United States. At an overall height of 175 feet (53.3 m), it was the tallest Ferris wheel on the West Coast of the United States when it opened in June 2012.
The Bussink Design R80XL is a type of giant Ferris wheel. It was designed by Bussink Design founder and CEO Ronald Bussink, and is manufactured under licence from Bussink Design GmbH of Switzerland by Maurer German Wheels and Chance American Wheels.
Baku Ferris Wheel, also known as the Baku Eye and Devil's Wheel, is a ferris wheel on Baku Boulevard in the Seaside National Park of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. The wheel was built by the Dutch company Dutch Wheels. It was opened on 10 March 2014 by Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, and opened to the public two days later.
The Capital Wheel is a Ferris wheel at National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington, D. C., in the United States. It opened on May 23, 2014.
The Hong Kong Observation Wheel is a 60-metre (197-foot) tall Ferris wheel located at the Central Harbourfront, Central, Hong Kong. It has 42 gondolas, including one VIP Gondola with leather seats and a clear glass bottom floor. All gondolas are equipped with air conditioners and communication systems. Each ride includes two to three rotations and takes about 15 minutes. Each gondola seats a maximum of eight people, other than the VIP Gondola, which seats five people.
The Sky Dream is a 126-metre-tall giant Ferris wheel in LIHPAO Discovery Land, Houli District, Taichung, Taiwan. It is the largest Ferris wheel in Taiwan being 126 meters tall.
SkyView de Pier is a 45-meter tall Ferris wheel in Scheveningen, The Hague. It was the first Ferris wheel constructed over sea in Europe, as it is on the Scheveningen Pier eight meters above the North Sea. It opened to the public on August 19, 2016.
SkyView Rotterdam was a 45-meter-tall Ferris wheel in the center of Rotterdam. It opened to the public on September 4, 2018, and was decommissioned in July 2019. Some residents of Markthal protested its construction citing privacy concerns. It was expected to stay for five years, but operated for less than one year. It may relocate to Spain.
AmberSky Gdańsk is a 50-meter tall ferris wheel in Gdańsk. It opened to the public in June 2016. It changed locations and reopened to the public on December 1, 2018. It is different from the Ferris wheel owned by Oscar Bruch from Germany that operated seasonally in Gdańsk before AmberSky's construction.
The Sun of Moscow is a panoramic wheel in VDNKh park, Moscow, Russia. It was constructed in 2022 as a replacement for previously dismantled Moscow-850. At 140 m high minus the height of the elevated platform, it became the tallest Ferris wheel in Russia and in Europe, surpassing London Eye in raw height, while still smaller in diameter. The wheel opened on the City Day 11 September 2022, when Moscow's 875th anniversary was celebrated.
SkyStar Wheel is a 150-foot tall (45.7 m) 137-foot (41.8 m) diameter traveling observation wheel located in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf since November 13, 2023. It has previously operated in San Francisco's Music Concourse (2020–2023), Cincinnati's The Banks (2018–2020), Louisville's Waterfront Park (2018), and Norfolk (2018).
