HELSINKI, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Finland’s travel restrictions did not stop Lufthansa from adding new routes to Finnish Lapland for the upcoming holiday period, the German airline told Reuters on Friday.
Finland, which has one of Europe’s lowest COVID-19 infection rates, has maintained some of the region’s strictest travel restrictions throughout the pandemic and does not consider tourism a valid reason for entry from virus-hit countries.
Lufthansa, which on Thursday advertised for “the snow-assured and spectacular ski resorts in Northern Finland” with a picture of Santa Claus attached, said it was travellers’ responsibility to verify if they met existing conditions to enter their travel destination.
Finland’s travel restrictions permit work-related or other essential travel but do not allow tourists to arrive from any country where the 14-day infection rate per 100,000 inhabitants is above 25 cases.
On Friday, Germany’s incidence rate stood at 301.9 and Finland’s own at 111.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control data showed.
“People have to take care of this themselves. They have to inform themselves,” a Lufthansa spokesman told Reuters, adding there were travellers with double citizenships or family ties which made them exempt from the restrictions.
“We just see if there is demand for certain destinations and then we offer flights if there is demand,” he added.
Finland’s restrictions are valid until Dec. 13 but they are likely to be extended as there is no political understanding over an alternative to them and COVID-19 cases in the country are on the rise.
“Our understanding is that (the changes) are not likely to proceed in the planned schedule and therefore there’s pressure for border controls to be extended,” Senior Policy Advisor Tomi Kivenjuuri from the Finnish Border Guards told Reuters.
Finland’s centre-left government has ended up extending the restrictions repeatedly in the absence of a solution to allow some tourism without importing more virus into the country.
The tourism industry in Finnish Lapland has been furious over the government’s indecision, accusing it of ruining Christmas season sales. (Reporting by Anne Kauranen, Additional reporting by Maria Sheahan in Berlin; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
