Finnair announced on Tuesday the reopening of their Helsinki Schengen Lounge from July 1st, 2020. The carrier is also launching a passenger ‘Clean Kit’ as they continue to enhance health and safety measures as air traffic recovers.
On Tuesday, Finnair announced that they will reopen their Helsinki Schengen lounge from July 1st, 2020. The lounge will be open from 6:00 AM to 10:00 Am and from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM with a limited food and beverage selection. Finnair will operate the Helsinki Schengen lounge with reduced capacity and expanded cleaning protocols to support the highest standards in hygiene. Although the carrier’s non-Schengen lounges will remain closed, guests traveling on non-Schengen area flights will be eligible to access the Schengen lounge. In Tuesday’s announcement, Finnair’s Vice President of Customer Experience, Karim Al-Soufi said,
“Traveling can feel different than before, with changes in services and new types of procedures in place, such as 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.”
Finnair will also expand their inflight service during July and August for short, medium and long-haul flights. Economy Class guests on very short flights in Europe, for example to Stockholm’s Arlanda, will be offered coffee, tea, juice and water, while customers traveling on longer European routes will also be offered a biscuit and sandwich. For long-haul flights, Finnair is elevating their inflight service closer to normal in both Economy and Business Class, though the range of meal choices and alcoholic beverages will be limited.
The carrier also announced today that in addition to enhanced aircraft cleaning and disinfection measures, they will now distribute a new ‘Clean Kit’ to guests which includes hand sanitizer, surface wipes and an information leaflet. The kit is packaged in an envelope which can serve as a waste container and features artwork by Finnish Artist Reeta Ek. The paper in the kit has been sourced from sustainable Finnish forestry fibers and the sanitizer has been supplied by Kyrö Distillery, best known for their award-winning gin. Finnair guests and crew members are required to wear a mask throughout their journey (except when eating) and in line with the carrier’s focus on sustainability, the masks contained in the kit have also been sourced and manufactured in Finland.
Specializing in passenger and cargo traffic between Asia and Europe, Finnair has a competitive advantage due to their geographical location. Finnair is also the only Nordic network with a 4-Star Skytrax rating and carried over 14.7 million passengers in 2019, earning revenues of €3.1 billion.
Source: Finnair