Before travel 

Check entry requirements 

When planning and preparing for your travel, check the travel restrictions and guidelines for your destination on our interactive map and on the country's government or embassy website. If you're travelling to Finland, find a detailed overview here.

Corona certificate required on our flights to Finland

We require a certificate of a corona vaccination, a negative coronavirus test or a full recovery from the infection if you travel to Finland from a country that the Finnish Border Guard has listed in a restriction category. These restriction categories are updated once a week and reflect the country-based entry requirements for travelling to Finland. Please ensure you have the required travel documents to travel.  

This requirement does not concern you when you connect to an international flight in Helsinki. For detailed information on children’s certificates please see the travel update here.

Corona testing

Some countries require a negative corona test result before you can board the aircraft. We want to ensure you easy access to the testing services at a discounted price and partnered with private Finnish healthcare service company Terveystalo. Most importantly, you know that the provided test certificate fulfils the destination country requirements. Check for more here.

Update your contact details 

We’ll contact you personally via SMS and/or email if there are any changes to your flight. Please go to Manage booking and check that we have your up-to-date contact information. 

Check in online 

Check in online or through Finnair mobile app for your flight to avoid queues and to shorten the time you spend at the airport. It is good to know that you will receive your boarding pass from our ground crew at the airport check-in area if you are required to present a certificate of a negative coronavirus test result or other similar documents before your flight. Please reserve enough time for this possible extra check at the airport.

Pack light 

Packing light is a good idea, as baggage handling increases the time you spend and the contacts you have at the airport. 

Changed carry-on baggage allowance 

Please note that we have temporarily changed our carry-on baggage policy to smoothen the boarding. In Business Class, you can bring two pieces of carry-on baggage onboard and a smaller personal item. In Economy Class, all customers are allowed to bring one piece of carry-on baggage and a smaller personal item. The allowed, new dimensions for a carry-on bag are 55 x 40 x 23cm and for a personal item 40 x 30 x 15cm. 

Reserve masks with you 

In accordance with our safety instructions (mentioned also in our conditions of carriage 7.1.10), you are required to wear a mask covering your mouth and nose at airports in Finland, at all Finnair service points in other airports, when you board the aircraft and during the flight. Please bring your own masks with you. This can be a surgical or a homemade mask made of tightly woven fabric. Face shields, masks with a valve or scarves are not accepted as masks, as they allow air to escape and do not provide comparable protection. Kids under 7 years old don’t need to wear a mask.

If you have a medical condition that prevents you from wearing a mask, please let us know at least 72 hours before your flight. Please fill in the whole form together with your doctor. It is good to know that travelling without a mask on our flights requires that you have a negative coronavirus test for both outbound and inbound flights. If you have flights with other airlines, please check also their policies before your journey. We currently only accept PCR test that has been taken earliest 2-3 days before your flight.

Arrive at the airport early 

We recommend you arrive at the airport latest 2 hours before your flight. For the flights to the USA, we ask you to be at the airport 3 hours before your departure. Due to the pandemic, we have extra travel document checks and other changes in our airport services. We advise you to allow extra time for these – also when travelling on a domestic flight within Finland. 

Helsinki Airport’s traffic arrangements have changed as of 2.3.2021 and all taxi traffic and passenger drop-off and pick-up are at Terminal 1. As all Finnair flights depart from Terminal 2, you will need to walk about 300 meters from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. 

Pre-order meals and shopping 

We deliver a limited selection of pre-ordered sandwiches and meals for our short-haul flights. Read more here. However, duty-free shopping is not currently available.  

Stay home if you feel unwell 

Please note that anyone with symptoms of a coronavirus infection (covid-19) will be denied boarding. Check our flexible ticket change policy here. 

At the airport

Terminal information 

Terminal changes at airports are currently possible. We recommend checking the terminal information from the airport’s website. 

Keep distance 

For your safety, please keep distance from other customers at all times. At Helsinki Airport, floor stickers will help you. You can see the health and hygiene plan for airports in Finland on Finavia’s website. 

Wearing a mask 

At Helsinki Airport, customer service points have plastic screens and our ground crew wear surgical masks. Finavia and Finnair require you to wear a mask at all times at airports in Finland and at Finnair service points in other airports as well.

Disinfection 

Help yourself with a hand sanitiser that is available both at check-in and at the gate area.  

Favour self-service 

We have changed our airport services to reduce direct contact between our customers and the ground crew and ask you to favour self-service channels whenever possible. When visiting our check-in desk, please show your travel documents to our check-in agent instead of handing them over. Our crew will continue to assist you at the check-in kiosks but without touching the screens. If you printed your bag tag from a kiosk, we kindly ask you to attach the tag to your bag yourself. 

Priority services 

We have discontinued the Helsinki Airport Priority Security service and the car service for Finnair Plus Platinum Lumo members. There may be changes in the Priority Security service at other airports as well. 

Security control 

In the security control, please remove tablets, laptops, power banks and other devices containing batteries out of your bag for x-ray scanning. Learn about Finavia’s hygiene measures at Helsinki Airport here.

Prefer card payments 

Please note that cash payments are currently not possible at Finnair airport service points. 

Lounge services 

Our Finnair Lounge in the Schengen side of Helsinki Airport will be closed as of 12 October 2020 until further notice. Also, Finnair Business Lounge and Platinum Wing in the non-Schengen side remain closed for now. It is good to know that there may be changes also in lounge services at other airports.

When boarding 

New boarding order 

To minimize unnecessary contacts and movement in the cabin, we start the boarding from the rear end of the aircraft. Priority boarding is available for our Business Class customers on long-haul flights, but otherwise, the service is temporarily discontinued. 

Extra checks 

Depending on your destination, we may have extra travel document checks or temperature screening required by the destination authorities when boarding. Please note also that anyone with symptoms of a respiratory infection will be denied boarding. 

Keep distance 

For your safety, please keep distance from other customers at all times. Our crew reviews seating at the gate and customers are seated far away from each other whenever possible. Families can, of course, sit together. At Helsinki Airport, in bus transportation, we carry fewer customers in each bus than usually to help you to keep the distance. 

Wearing a mask 

You are required to wear a mask that covers your mouth and nose at all times at airports in Finland and at Finnair service points at other airports as well including when boarding the aircraft and during the flight. Please bring your own masks, as your boarding can be denied without a mask.

During flight

Wearing a mask 

Our cabin crew wear surgical masks during the flight, and also you are required to wear a mask from boarding to leaving the aircraft. You can remove the mask while you’re eating or drinking for a limited time. Children under the age of 7 are not required to wear a mask. Check tips for wearing a mask comfortably here. 

Carry-on baggage 

We encourage you to store your carry-on baggage under the seat in front of you so that you don’t have to stand up during the flight to get items from the overhead lockers. 

Cleanliness 

We clean our aircraft at every “turn” when the aircraft is on the ground. We also provide you with a Kyrö hand sanitiser onboard. 

Meal service 

To minimise contact, we have modified our meal service onboard. Please see here for more details. 

Movement in the cabin 

Please avoid unnecessary movement in the cabin. If you need to move around for medical reasons, it’s of course permitted. Toilet visits are naturally allowed, but we ask you not to queue on the aisle. 

Shopping onboard 

There are no duty-free sales onboard. It is also good to know that cash payments are not possible during the flight.

Connecting flights

Check transit restrictions

Transit restrictions apply in some countries, so make sure to check the rules for your transit country beforehand. Use our travel requirements map or read more about transferring to a connecting flight in Finland here.

Reserve extra time

It is a good idea to reserve some extra time to proceed to the gate of your connecting flight. You can check the departure gate for your next flight through airport monitors. At Helsinki Airport all flights depart from the same terminal building. 

Prepare for extra border controls

Depending on your origin and destination countries, please prepare for extra border controls at the airport when transferring to your connecting flight.

Upon arrival 

Deboard in groups 

Exiting the aircraft will happen in a new order in smaller groups. 

Entry requirements 

Pay attention to the authorities’ entry requirements and recommendations in your destination. In some countries, for example, temperature screening is possible upon arrival, and you may be required to use a mask in public areas.

Finnair Corona Cover

Finnair Corona Cover protects you and covers expenses in case you get sick with coronavirus while in your destination. Your ticket will include Finnair Corona Cover with no additional cost when you have made your booking by 30 June 2021 and travel abroad by the end of August 2021 from one of these countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Read more here.

Arriving in Finland and Helsinki Airport

Finavia and Finnair require you to continue wearing a mask also at airports in Finland. Also, please keep distance from others at all times and pay attention to hand hygiene.

The Finnish health authority has decided that all customers arriving in Finland from restricted countries will be directed to a mandatory health check and possible coronavirus testing as part of it upon arrival at Helsinki Airport. However, for Finnair’s customers, coronavirus testing is not required on arrival, as you need to have a certificate of a negative coronavirus test result when you travel with us to Finland.

Through the digital FINENTRY service you can check your personal entry instructions when travelling to Finland. You are asked to fill in some personal details and information about your journey, and based on this information the service gives you guidance about entry to Finland. FINENTRY service aims to make it easier to travel to Finland during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Please read also our travel update about travelling to Finland. Finavia’s instructions for Helsinki Airport are here.

Responsible travel 

We can together make travelling safer by acting responsibly while travelling and during the time in the destination. See more tips for responsible travel here.