Finnair stops its own covid certificate requirements

National flag carrier Finnair will discontinue its requirement for passengers to present covid certificates before boarding flights to Finland from July 12, said the airlines in a press release on Wednesday.

The Finnair took the decision following the government decision taken on Tuesday to ease entry restrictions into Finland.

Finland’s new entry model opens up Finland for leisure travelers: travelers from EU and Schengen countries can enter Finland freely as of 12 July without any additional health safety measures when they are fully vaccinated, or have had a covid-19 infection before, or are born in 2006 or later, or

arrive from a country with low virus incidence.

Those with one vaccination only are instructed to take a covid-19 test earliest 72 hours after arrival to Finland, and those without any vaccinations are required in addition to have a negative test result before departure to Finland or a test on arrival

“With the new legislation, the requirements for entry are checked on arrival, so our customers do not need to show their certificates to Finnair customer service agent at the check-in, when their destination is Finland”, said Jaakko Schildt, Finnair Chief Operating Officer.

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare recommended earlier this year that all airlines with flights to Finland require their passengers to show either a negative test result, a certificate of recovery, or a vaccination certificate, and Finnair has been the only airline flying to Finland who has adhered to this recommendation. With the discontinuation of this practice, Finnair does not have any requirements of its own regarding covid certificates.

During the interim period of 12-25 July 2021 Finnair will however check that passengers traveling to Finland meet the Finnish entry requirements, when they depart from a country that is outside the group of normalised border traffic, as internal border control continues and leisure traffic is not yet allowed from all EU and Schengen countries during the interim period.