Are you still suffering from the pandemic blues? Then why not plan a visit to the happiest country in the world? Finnair starts flights between Mumbai and Helsinki.
How about a trip down to the official hometown of Santa Claus for a cheerful Christmas? Or if you cannot wait that long, may be rush for your first glimpse of the Northern Lights, usually visible between August and April? Because visiting Finland from India got easier with Finnair starting its direct operation between the two countries.
Actually you do not need an excuse to the happiest country in the world, veteran travelers will tell you. This year, Finland won the title fifth year in a row. A splendid collection of islands, lakes and forest, the famous Lapland, Finland has lots to offer to travellers.
On August 7 this year, Finnair’s maiden aircraft, AY125 to India landed in Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). The outbound flight AY126 left Mumbai for Helsinki same day. The new route, to and from CSMIA will provide passengers with seamless connections to Finland, United States and northern Europe.
According to Finnair’s General Manager India, Sakari Romu, “The three-weekly flights serve our customers not only in providing a connection to Finland but also to our network in the US and major European cities.”
Headquartered in Helsinki, Finnair is a network airline, connecting passenger and cargo traffic between Asia, North America, and Europe. Finnair is a member of the one world alliance, and the airline intends to reduce its net emissions by 50 per cent by the end of 2025 from the 2019 baseline and achieve carbon neutrality latest by the end of 2045, a release from the company said.
A spokesperson from CSMIA said that the partnership adds to the Mumbai airport’s robust connectivity with the addition of a prominent hub like Helsinki to its route network.
According to Finland Tourism website, restrictions on entry at Finland’s external borders imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic ended on June 30, 2022. Therefore European travellers, Schengen travellers and third-country travellers arriving in Finland will no longer be required to hold vaccination or COVID-19 test certificates, and COVID-19 tests will not be carried out at border crossing points. Travellers arriving from non-EU and non-Schengen countries will require normal travel documents, i.e. a passport and, if necessary, a visa.