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Finnair trims European routes, adds flights to Lapland

Domestic travellers have shown a growing interest in Finland's northern cities.

Aerial view of four white Finnair planes parked on a runway in bright weather with green grass in the background.
This week the government said individuals arriving to Finland from countries with high infection rates would be required to quarantine under penalty of law. Image: Silja Viitala / Yle
  • Yle News

National airline Finnair said on Wednesday that it is scaling back some European and domestic routes in September owing to decreased demand.

The airline said cutbacks would not affect staffing as personnel layoffs already began in April.

"There are still no connecting passengers from Asia and the United States to support European flights because of severe travel restrictions in these regions. Also, the local demand is more moderate than estimated due to the same restrictions," Finnair VP Mikko Turtiainen said in a statement.

The company will operate about 30 percent of the flights it did in September 2019.

Finnair said it would continue flights in September to the same European destinations it was flying to in August, but less frequently.

Flights to Nice on the French Riviera and the southwestern Finnish city of Turku have, however, been nixed due to a lack of demand.

The carrier has meanwhile added flights to Ivalo, Kittilä and Kuusamo due to growing domestic interest in these northern destinations, according to Turtiainen.

In September, Finnair will fly to Kuopio once per day and to Vaasa and Mariehamn five times a week.