What is the rule on whether or not you can leave an airport during a stopover? Does it depend on whether you are checked through from your departure airport to your destination?
My daughter has 8 hours in Helsinki en route from Manchester to Bangkok.
Thanks

I don't know about the rule but from my experince :
1. With such a long hour layover, you should have no problem going out of the custom generally in most airports.
2. Exactly at Helsinki airport, a few years ago, I had 5 hours till my connectiong flight on my way back from Asia just like your daughter. They let out of the custom. No problem at all.

"they let ME out .."

Hike--- was your experience pre-9/11? i would take added security checks into consideration when estimating times to be back at the airport.

Hi Frances,

May I suggest that you call the airline and ask?

Frances, call the airline and find out about the airport rules...Is much safer this way...

Thre aren't any "rules" about leaving an airport. She'll definitely need to have a ticket and a boarding pass to get back past the security checkpoint when she comes back to the airport..just as anyone else would. Security won't have any idea about her luggage and whether it is "checked through" or not.

I don't think she will have any problem, but she out to check with Finnair. Daughter would need to go through immigration & customs after arriving from UK. A likely question, in a addition to 'how long?', would be why are you visiting Finland carrying only a purse?

My point being that 'security' will know. Thinking of the Pan Am/Lockerbie, Scotland flight.

Apologies to those of you who have been kind enough to reply but some days I just can't post on here -full stop! I've no idea why.
I rang the airline and the person I spoke to initially asked if it was one ticket from Manchester to Helsinki to Bangkok. Then she said she'd find out. She came back not sounding too certain but said that it was unlikely someone could leave the airport as the baggage would be checked through.
This is what I expected and of course it makes sense, but it also makes for a very long wait in Helsinki.
So there we are that's why it was a cheap flight!
Thank you all for your help

Hi Frances,

Tell your daughter not to give up hope. She can ask again at the airport.

Tell her to see if they still have Lakka Liqueur. It is made from little yellow berries that grow only near the Arctic Circle.

Maybe I'm being naive here, but I'm still trying to figure out how anyone would know you have left the airport.

I always go outside and get some fresh air in between flights and never have a problem, even though I'm checked to my final destination. How would they know whether I just step outside, or get in a car, or on a train?

Hey Ira,

Those little yellow berries (cloudberries) grow a bit further south as well. They're called "bakeapples" in Newfoundland and "chicoutai" in Quebec, where they also make them into a liqueur.

Ive left the airport in Reykjavik, London, and Frankfurt all after 9-11 and have had no problems. I dont understand, whos going to stop her from leaving the airport and as long as she as her boarding pass and passport, she shouldnt have a problem going back through security right? Her luggage should be in the airlines custody and they are responsible esp since your on a connecting flight.