"The Flamingo entertainment centre and the adjoining Break Sokos Hotel Flamingo have proven to be good investments for us. The volume of travellers at the airport is growing, especially from Asian countries. The hotel expansion is a response to the area's development needs and further reinforces Flamingo's position as an entertainment centre. We believe in Flamingo," says Varma's Property Development Director, Aarne Markkula.

Construction will begin in spring 2017, and the project, called Flamingo Wing, will be completed by the end of 2018. The wing-shaped building will be chilli-pepper red and have a floor area of roughly 9,700 square metres.

Much-needed additional accommodation for the developing Aviapolis area

The hotel expansion will bring more than 230 new hotel rooms to the Flamingo complex.

Designed by the architectural firm Haroma & Partners, the new wing will be connected to Flamingo by a corridor. Once the project is completed, Break Sokos Hotel Flamingo will be the largest hotel in Finland, with some 540 hotel rooms.

"In order to succeed in the current competitive climate, hotels must be able to offer more than just a good room. The philosophy behind our Break hotels is to help people unwind from the stresses of daily life by offering a wide range of activities and fun services, whether they are travelling for a business trip, conference or leisure. The expansion will enable Flamingo to better respond to continuously growing demand," says Harri Ojanperä, director of the S Group's travel industy and hospitability business. For the hotel operator Sokotel, the Flamingo expansion is a natural part of the company's growth strategy.

"The popular Break Sokos Hotel Flamingo, together with Original Sokos Hotel Vantaa, is an important pillar of Sokotel's hotel business in the capital city region. We are pleased to be involved in developing the Aviapolis area, as we strongly believe in its future," says Sokotel's CEO, Tapio Satta.

In connection with the hotel expansion, the existing property will also be developed: the hotel's breakfast restaurant and kitchen will be expanded, and new elevators will be added. Larger restaurant and conference spaces will also enable increased capacity for customer events.

Flamingo, which has an indoor passage to the Jumbo shopping centre, is the largest entertainment and leisure centre in Finland. It is located in the Aviapolis area, near the Helsinki–Vantaa airport.

For more information, please contact:

Aarne Markkula, Property Development Manager, Varma, tel. +358 40 522 6927, aarne.markkula@varma.fi

Leena Rantasalo, Communications Manager, Varma, tel. +358 50 300 7980, leena.rantasalo@varma.fi

Harri Ojanperä, Senior Vice President, SOK, tel. +358 10 76 82801, harri.ojanpera@sok.fi

Tapio Satta, CEO, Sokotel, tel. +358 500 438 544, tapio.satta@sok.fi