Which airport hosted Finland's first Starbucks in 2012?

Finland’s first Starbucks opened at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in May 2012.

The airport location, in Vantaa near Helsinki, gave Starbucks an entry point into Finland through a major international travel hub. Airport stores are often among a global chain’s first locations in a country because they serve both local travelers and international passengers, while also benefiting from established retail infrastructure.

The answer is sometimes confused with Starbucks’ early Nordic expansion elsewhere. Starbucks opened in Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden in 2010, and its first Norwegian Starbucks-branded shop opened at Oslo Airport in February 2012. Those locations came before Finland’s opening, but they were in different countries. Helsinki-Vantaa was the Finnish debut.

Starbucks later expanded beyond the airport through a partnership with Finnish retailer Kesko. In 2015, the companies announced plans for Starbucks stores alongside K-Citymarket hypermarkets, and several such locations had opened in the Helsinki region by 2017. Thus, the airport was the starting point, not the endpoint, of Starbucks’ Finnish presence.