Finland is legendary for its saunas—there are greater than 3 million within the nation, which means there’s roughly one sauna for each three individuals. And just lately, Helsinki Airport (HEL) constructed the world’s first runway sauna as an homage to the nation’s steamy sauna tradition.

Finavia, an airport firm that manages a number of aviation hubs all through the nation, together with Helsinki Airport, sited the sauna near the runway, in order that it might be seen as quickly as vacationers touched down. The sauna was solely up for at some point and wasn’t supposed for use (scrambling throughout the runway to make your sauna appointment feels like the other of rest), however as a substitute, it was meant to be a enjoyable strategy to spotlight Finland’s love of saunas.

“Most airports have transit zones—some even have saunas,” stated Anna Tuomi, Finavia’s head of promoting, in a press release shared with Journey + Leisure. “It’s the touchpoint to tune into the rhythm, values, and mindset of Finland. Your story can go wherever from right here. To showcase this brief transition, we constructed the world’s first runway sauna at Helsinki Airport.”

Nevertheless, should you truly do need to hop right into a sauna throughout your time at Helsinki Airport, you are in luck. The airport has three saunas inside the principle terminal constructing, and most are positioned inside lounges, corresponding to within the Finnair Platinum Wing Lounge, close to Gate 52. There are additionally many extra inside close by lodges, corresponding to inside the Clarion Resort Helsinki Airport, which is only a five-minute stroll away.

Nevertheless, even should you do not go to a sauna throughout your time at Helsinki Airport, you are positive to have time regardless. Helsinki Airport persistently ranks as probably the greatest airports in Europe by the airline and airport evaluate website SkyTrax.

Finland was ranked the “happiest nation on earth” in 2025 for the eighth consecutive 12 months by the Gallup World Happiness Report, which is created yearly in partnership with Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Analysis Centre, and the United Nations. The runway sauna is supposed to function a delicate reference to the nation’s completely satisfied status and is a small preview for all that awaits vacationers outdoors the airport’s doorways. Actually, Finland’s sauna tradition was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage listing in 2020.

“Finland is named the world’s happiest nation, and the timeless custom of sauna is on the coronary heart of Finnish tradition,” Tuomi stated within the assertion. “We’ve introduced these parts collectively to have fun Finnish happiness.”