Finnair has postponed the resumption of its daily flights between Dublin and Helsinki due to ongoing travel restrictions.
Finnair had previously announced the service would resume in July with flights operated with a mix of Airbus A320 and Embraer aircraft. The imposition of travel restrictions to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic forced the suspension of the route. However, travel restrictions still in place by the Irish and Finnish governments has led the Finnish flag-carrier to delay the re-introduction of flights.
Andrew Fish, Finnair General Manager UK & Ireland & Benelux, said: “We’re sorry Finnair customers travelling from Ireland have been affected by our decision to delay the restart of flights between Dublin and Helsinki, which were due to restart next month.
“We know our customers were looking forward to flying with us once again and we have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure their health and safety remains paramount thanks to new enhanced hygiene measures.
“However, as there has been no change in the current travel restrictions affecting both Ireland and Finland, this has significantly affected demand from consumers leading to a delay in the resumption of flights.
“We are keeping all Finnair routes under constant review and hope to restart our popular Dublin to Helsinki service in August.”
Finnair has also shelved the July restart of flights from Edinburgh, while a planned four times a week service from Manchester has been reduced from four times a week to two – due to the introduction of the UK government’s 14-day quarantine policy.
In May, Finnair announced it was to start flying again in July, operating 30 per cent of its flights, following the relaxation of travel restrictions and bans, as demand started to recover. From April through to June, Finnair will have been operating at just five per cent of its normal capacity, maintaining critical air connections for Finland. The airline had ramped up preparations for the return to service by introducing extra hygiene and enhanced cleaning measures.
At airports, customers are recommended to wear a facemask and check-in online prior to arrival to reduce contact. Customer service agents will wear face masks with check-in desks equipped with protective plastic screens that are disinfected regularly. Social distancing will be encouraged by floor stickers showing the recommended twometer distance and hand sanitisers will be available.
A ‘no touch policy’ will minimise person-to-person contact and the use of self-service channels will be recommended. Finnair requested that any customer who experienced or came into contact with COVID-19 symptoms 14 days prior to travelling not to head to the airport. Trained staff will carry out visual inspections and anyone suspected of showing infectious symptoms will be denied boarding.
On Finnair aircraft, the frequency of cleaning has been intensified, with a special focus on high touch surfaces. All cabin air, which is replaced every three minutes, passes through HEPA filters which filters more than 99.9% of particles, including bacteria and virus.
A new boarding procedure will see customers board at the rear of the aircraft first as priority boarding is temporarily suspended. While on board, the wearing of face masks is mandatory for all Finnair customers and cabin crew (except for children under the age of seven).
Finnair will serve a temporarily streamlined onboard customer experience to minimise person-to-person contact during the flight, with one inflight dining meal tray, no hot towel and welcome drink and no duty free or ‘buy on board’ sales options. All customers will also be handed disinfection wipes for the self-cleaning of their own seat surfaces.
