As borders reopen and restrictions ease up, the fight to regain passenger confidence and trust in air travel is on. As Finnair is scaling its schedule back up, the airline is adding the offer of a curated "clean kit" to the mix. It will be provided on all the carrier's flights starting today, July 1st.
Disinfectant from gin distillery
The customer kit consists of surface wipes, hand disinfectant, and an information leaflet, packaged in a stylish blue and white envelope. The packaging, doubling as a waste container for the items, features artwork by Finnish artist Reeta Ek.
The paper products come from sustainable Finnish forestry fibers. Furthermore, the hand sanitizer has been supplied by Kyrö distillery. This company usually makes an award-winning gin but transitioned to producing hand disinfectants since the start of the pandemic.
What the kit does not contain is a face mask. However, the carrier said in a statement that even though it asks that passengers bring their own supply to last for the entire journey, a limited amount will be available upon request.
Back to 25% of schedule
The Nordic carrier is ramping up its services significantly this month, after operating a bare-bones schedule since April. For the past three months, it has maintained only 5% of its normal capacity, focusing on air connections considered critical for Finland. In July, Finnair will return to operating 25% of its schedule.
"Travelling with Finnair will feel different than before, with changes to our services and new types of procedures in place, such as the mandatory use of a mask on our flights. However, we are delighted to be able to bring back familiar elements of our valued customer service while still taking good care of the hygiene and safety of our customers and staff," Karim Al-Soufi, Finnair Vice President of Customer Experience, said in the press release seen by Simple Flying.
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The airline also emphasizes that it has upped the cleaning frequency of its aircraft, focusing particularly on high-touch surfaces and that their planes are equipped with HEPA filters. If you have been following health safety in aviation, you know by now that these replace air every three to five minutes, and reportedly remove more than 99.9% of particles.
Beverages and biscuits are back
During July and August, Finnair will also be re-expanding its offer of in-flight service. Coffee, tea, juice, and water will once more be offered in economy on shorter European and Finnish domestic routes.
Passengers on longer European services will be provided with a biscuit or a sandwich, depending on the length of the route. On long-haul routes, services will return "closer to normal," with the exemption of some special meals and select alcoholic beverages.
In a bid to further reduce possible contagion through contact surfaces, Finnair is restricting the size of passenger carry-ons to 55cm x 40cm x 23cm, rather than the usual 56cm x 45cm x 25cm. An additional small personal item is still permitted.
Meanwhile, Finnair's lounges at the non-Schengen area at Helsinki airport will remain temporarily closed. Passengers traveling outside the EU with lounge access may instead use the Schengen lounge, which will operate at a reduced schedule for the time being. It will be open from 06:00 to 10:00 and from 14:00 to 20:00.
Do you think all airlines should provide clean kits for passengers, or is it the individual's responsibility to bring their own disinfectant? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.