In a move brimming with confidence, Finland's national flag carrier Finnair announced in a statement today that it plans to fly to over 60 destinations this summer. With the COVID-19 vaccine rollout picking up pace in Europe, Finnair is preparing to increase the number of flights to what it considers to be leisure destinations.

From its central hub at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL), the Nordic airline says that starting in June, it will resume flights to Vilnius, Bodø, Nice, Lisbon, and Reykjavik. Finnair will be adding flights to Spain, Greece, and Italy for Finn's looking to escape to the Mediterranean sunshine.

Finnair is following developments closely

When speaking about the summer 2021 flights Finnair's Chief Commercial Officer, Ole Orvér, said,

"We closely follow how travel regulations develop across our markets and have the flexibility to increase flights based on demand, seizing opportunities created when travel restrictions are lifted."

Regarding flights to the United States of America, Finnair recognizes how well the vaccination program has progressed and is ready to restart flights to Los Angeles and Chicago in mid-June. Finnair will also increase the frequency of its Helsinki to New York route with as many as three flights per week. All flights to the United States are still subject to American government guidelines regarding COVID-19 and the ability to enter the country without quarantine.

Finnair A350 crew
Finnair plans to fly to New York three times per week. Photo: Finnair

Because travel restrictions are likely to evolve as more people become vaccinated, Finnair aims to facilitate travel planning. Finnair will introduce a new AI-powered solution that customers can use to keep up with the latest coronavirus travel requirements in different countries.

Using this new tool on the airlines' website Finnair.com, customers can access an interactive map developed by Smartvel to help plan their trip.

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Finnair is offering flexible tickets

Because Finnair knows that specific country requirements can change with little or no notice, Finnair is offering customers a flexible ticket change policy on all bookings made before 31 August 2021. This policy will allow customers to change their travel dates regardless of what ticket they purchased.

Finnair summer 2021 destinations:

Finland

Ivalo, Kittilä, Kuopio, Kuusamo, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Tampere, Turku and, Vaasa.  

Europe

Alicante, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bodø, Brussels, Budapest, Chania, Copenhagen, Dublin, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Funchal, Gazipasa, Gdansk, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Heraklion, Krakow, Lisbon, London, Málaga, Manchester, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Nice, Oslo, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Prague, Reykjavik, Rhodes, Riga, Rome, Split, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tel Aviv, Venice, Vilnius, Visby, Vienna, Warsaw, and Zürich. 

Asia

Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.

North America

Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.

Following the Finnish Health Authority guidelines, Finnair requires that all passengers arriving in Finland have proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test or proof of a previous COVID-19 infection. Starting from the 11th of May, Finnair will also accept a COVID-19 vaccination certificate.

Vaccinations are the key

Having a look at Finnair's summer 2021 destinations, yes, there are some summer sun destinations, but they are far outweighed by traditional business destinations like London, Paris, Moscow, and New York. Having said that, it is nice to see that Finnair is confident that vaccinations will be the key to getting people flying again this summer.

Finnair

Are there any destinations not on the above list that you think Finnair should be flying to this summer? If I was running the airline, Malta, Cyprus, the Turkish Riviera, and perhaps Agadir in Morocco, would have been on my list of destinations.

How about you? Please tell us where you wish Finnair would fly in the comments.