At Helsinki Airport, COVID-19 certificates will be selectively checked as the airport has set up a Green Line to expedite the processing of travelers fully vaccinated against the virus.
Until now, COVID-19 certificates for international travelers have been checked at Helsinki Airport upon departure, at check-in, and upon arrival.
According to the mayor of Vantaa, Ritva Vilyanen, such a queue was created for fully vaccinated persons, who make up almost 90 percent of all travelers, according to SchengenVisaInfo.com.
Viljanen said “the change was necessary to reduce the chaos at the airport,” stressing that “there will be no more huge queues now.”
Finavia, the operator of Finland’s airport, stressed last week that while the number of passengers continues to grow, the complex screening process will become very difficult.
Finavia stressed that the number of passengers is expected to double by the end of this year.
“When vaccination coverage in Finland is already good and most new arrivals are vaccinated, comprehensive screening is no longer justified from an epidemic control point of view,” the former Civil Aviation Authority said in this regard, according to YLE.
Verification of COVID-19 documents is the responsibility of the tour operator, according to Finavia, while emphasizing that such documents are no longer routinely controlled at borders.
Last week, the Finnish government announced it had decided to extend the entry restrictions for unvaccinated travelers until the end of this year.
In this regard, the Minister of Social Affairs of Finland Krista Kiuru stressed that such measures are similar to the restrictions imposed by other EU countries to stop the further spread of the virus.
Travelers who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus must undergo testing upon arrival in Finland at least by the end of this year, she said. However, she clarified that fully vaccinated travelers are exempt from testing.
The Finnish government has stressed that border controls will remain in place until at least 80 percent of Finland’s population is fully vaccinated against the virus.
Soon after the announcement, this decision was criticized by many people in Finland.
The mayor of Vantaa, as well as representatives of the Finnish tourism industry, also expressed their concerns about the government’s decision to keep the restrictions in place for another period.
“We expected the government to start softening and lifting the restrictions,” said Sanna Kärkkäinen, Managing Director of Visit Rovaniemi, according to the Helsinki Times.
Since vaccination coverage is good, she said, the situation should have changed, stressing that such a decision was “a great disappointment.”