Originally Posted by
mvoight
Estonia is in Schengen
Finland is in Schengen
OP is flying Estonia to Finland to US
Why would they being clearing immigration in HEL, since the Estonia to Finland flight shouldn't require immigration, right?
The TLL-HEL flight will arrive in the Schengen area at HEL, while HEL-ORD will depart from the non-Schengen area. In order to get to the non-Schengen area, you have to go through immigration (passport control) as you're leaving the EU.
I just transited HEL last week...I had forgotten how fabulous it is for connections (especially compared to LHR or MAD). A 1 hr. connection should be no problem if everything's on time.
Also of note, my itinerary was RDU-LHR-HEL-ARN, and I
did not have to re-clear security at HEL, which was wonderful.