The New Aviation Museum project was launched in March 2024. The new museum is expected to be completed by the end of 2027. The construction project will be carried out using a collaborative model, where the museum staff, construction experts, the contractor selected for the project, as well as the architect and technical designers will participate in the planning of the new museum.
Explore the project’s timeline below.
In 2025, the most central and critical acquisitions for the New Aviation Museum project will be made. In the construction project, a consortium implementing the new building – the architect and other designers, as well as the construction contractor – will be tendered. The development of the New Aviation Museum will start at the end of the year, together with the museum staff. In 2025, the exhibition architect and other designers, with whom the conceptual plan for the future main exhibition will be drawn up, will also be tendered. However, construction work in the Aviapolis area will start already in the spring, when the construction contract for the Aviapolis high school rising next to the new museum begins.
The construction project for the New Aviation Museum is in full swing. The tendering process for the implementing consortium began at the beginning of the year under the leadership of project consultant Roope Haimila (A-Insinöörit Oy), and based on the applications, three candidates consisting of contractors, architects, and other designers have been selected to proceed. During the spring and summer, the candidates will prepare a project plan for the new museum building, which will be developed in workshops with the museum staff. The winning plan will be selected in the fall, and based on it, the actual development phase of the new museum building will begin.
The New Aviation Museum has been in preparation for years. Alongside the construction project tenders, the procurement of an architect and designer group to plan the museum’s future main exhibition, together with the museum staff, is also being prepared. The designers will be selected by the end of the year, and the conceptual planning of the new exhibition will begin alongside the building’s project development. Not all of the museum’s collections will be displayed in the new exhibition at once – some collections will be stored in an external collection center. Alongside the exhibitions, the services of the new museum are also being planned. Exhibitions and services are being designed together with the museum’s customers, stakeholders, and volunteers.
The year 2025 is also the last full operational year of the old Aviation Museum – if you want to visit the current exhibitions, now is a great opportunity!
The construction work for the New Aviation Museum is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2026. The planning of exhibitions and content will continue alongside the construction work. At the same time, the museum is preparing for relocation. The museum collections are being prepared for the upcoming exhibition and the move to the collection facilities.
Therefore, the current exhibition and premises of the museum will be gradually closed during 2026 – we will inform about this through the museum’s communication channels.
The development phase of the museum building will be completed in early 2026. If there are no delays in obtaining the building permit, the board of the Finnish Aviation Museum Foundation can decide on the final construction investment in the spring – the new museum’s zoning plan has already become legally binding in the fall of 2024. Once the decision is made and the permits are obtained, the ground can be broken on the new museum’s site.
The estimated duration of the construction contract is 17 months. The construction site for the new museum will be established next to the Aviapolis high school construction site – the high school construction work is scheduled to start in the spring of 2025 according to current plans. With the construction work for the Vantaa tram also expected to begin in 2025, the urban landscape of the Aviapolis core area will change significantly in 2026!
The planning of the new museum’s exhibitions and services will continue in 2026. Alongside the planning work, the museum is preparing for relocation – aircraft and other collection items are being prepared and packed for transport either to future exhibitions or collection storage facilities. Therefore, the current premises of the museum will be gradually closed during the year.
According to the current plan, some exhibitions will be closed at the beginning of the year, and the rest later in the year. The meeting rooms and simulators are intended to remain open until 2027.
The New Aviation Museum will be completed according to plan at the end of 2027. However, the building can be taken into use gradually while the final construction work is still ongoing, so the construction of new exhibitions and the museum’s relocation can start earlier in the same year. The goal is to celebrate the opening of the New Aviation Museum before the end of the year. We will inform about the progress of the project through the museum’s communication channels.
If the construction work does not get delayed for any reason, the new museum’s construction will be completed by the end of 2027 at the latest. According to the plans, the new museum building can be taken into use gradually while the final construction work is still ongoing, so during the latter part of the year, the museum can already start relocating and building new exhibitions.
At the beginning of 2027, the planning of the new museum’s exhibitions and services is already in its final stages, and the transfer of collections to storage facilities is in full swing. Detailed implementation plans will be finalized at the beginning of the year, so the museum is ready to move into the new museum building as soon as the construction project allows. After the intensive relocation and exhibition construction efforts in the latter part of the year, everything will be ready for the grand opening!