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Changes in Finnair flights to Asia and Russia

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Due to the closure of Russian airspace, we are making changes to our flights to Asian destinations and Russia. We have cancelled flights to Korea until 12 March 2022 and all flights to Russia until 28 May 2022. In addition, flights to Osaka and Hongkong will be cancelled until 30 April 2022. 

We will continue our flights to Tokyo starting 09 March, Shanghai starting 10 March and Seoul starting 12 March avoiding the Russian airspace. We also continue flights to Bangkok, Phuket, Delhi and Singapore using a longer route going around Russia. 

As of 9 March 2022, we fly to Tokyo Narita four times a week out of Helsinki, avoiding the Russian airspace. The flight time is approximately 13 hours and the flights connect smoothly to our European network.  

Starting 10 March, we fly to Shanghai once a week on Thursdays, and as of 12 March to Seoul three times a week on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Both routes go around the Russian airspace from the south, and the return flight from Seoul to Helsinki can also take the northern route. The flight time for the Shanghai and Seoul routes will be 12-14 hours, depending on the direction. 

Flights to Osaka and Hong Kong are cancelled until the end of April 2022. 

We will update new information regarding our flights to Asia and possible further changes to our customer policy as of 30 April later on. 
 
We continue flying from Helsinki to Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore and Delhi and from Stockholm Arlanda to Bangkok and Phuket. We will avoid using the Russian airspace which lengthens the travel time by some hours depending on the route and for example the weather conditions. 

We are changing the flight schedule for our Bangkok flights to allow for smoother connections to our European network. New departure times are at 00:45 local time from Helsinki and at 22:35 local time from Bangkok. New departure times apply until 30 April 2022. Schedules and flight numbers (AY143/144) are now updated until 27Mar, updates for onward dates will be done the soonest. 

We have our normal meal service on these flights, and due to the longer travel time, we recommend customers also take some snacks with them. Due to longer flight time we have limited the space for checked baggage on our Tokyo and Seoul flights. We kindly ask customers to follow the baggage allowance on the ticket. Limitations impact also seating of the flight. If we are unable to offer customer prepaid seat, refund can be applied. Unfortunately we are unable to sell our on-board internet connection in advance as the inflight connectivity will not be working along the Northern route. Customers may still purchase internet connection onboard when we are using the Southern route. 
 
Safety is always our first priority. We are following the situation closely and will update any new information on Easy.

In case of a cancellation, we will contact customers personally via SMS and/or e-mail and PNRs will also be updated. Please make sure that customers’ contact information on bookings are up to date.

Customer can choose from the following options, if flight is cancelled or the schedule is changed:


  • Finnair will offer re-routing if it is available and suggested alternative is added to booking. Please note availability of alternative flights is currently very limited.
  •  In case no suitable alternative is found, customer is entitled for full refund of unused ticket coupons and ancillaries.

Tickets can be refunded directly via GDS. 
SSR  INVOL CNL DUE TO RUS POLI-REFUND ONLY added by Finnair to bookings automatically authorizes refund and no additional waiver code is needed. If that is not possible, please issue a refund application via BSPlink for Finnair. For agents on US market/ARC: refund can be applied via Refund Web-form on Finnair internet site. Please mention in additional information box: ARC Agent.
Refunds of ancillary services on EMDs will be processed via BSPlink refund application.

Changes to bookings to Japan, South Korea, Hongkong or China:  

  • For departures 27.2.- 30.4.: Changes for AY flights allowed in the lowest available RBD in the same cabin and fare difference can be waived. Ticket to be reissued as involuntary, further instructions for involuntary reissues can be found here. OS AY CHNG DUE FLTS SUSP IN RUS AIRSPACE must be added to booking. 
  • Exceptional cancellation policy valid for 27.2.-30.4.2022 departures - full refund for unused flight coupons. Even if the flight is not cancelled, customer is entitled to a full refund. OS AY RFND DUE FLTS SUSP IN RUS AIRSPACE must be added to booking and refund can be done directly via GDS (no additional waiver code is needed). 
  • For departures 1.5. and onwards: Book with confidence policy, which we already have in place due to Covid-19, applies for changes and refunds according to ticketed fare rules. 

Changes to bookings to Russia:  

  • Book with confidence policy, which we already have in place due to Covid-19, applies for changes.  
  • Exceptional cancellation policy valid until further notice (regardless of travel period) - full refund for unused flight coupons. Even if the flight is not cancelled, customer is entitled to a full refund. OS AY RFND DUE FLTS SUSP IN RUS AIRSPACE must be added to booking and refund can be done directly via GDS (no additional waiver code is needed). 

Travelling to Singapore, Thailand or India: 

  • Book with confidence policy, which we already have in place due to Covid-19, applies for changes. 

  • Cancellation - to Singapore, Delhi or Phuket, or to/from Arlanda to Thailand destinations, refund will be according to the original ticket rules.

  • Cancellation - on Helsinki Bangkok route between 7 March and 30 April 2022, refund allowed as the original flight has been cancelled and new flight will depart hours later. OS AY RFND DUE FLTS SUSP IN RUS AIRSPACE must be added to booking and refund can be done directly via GDS (no additional waiver code is needed). Bookings after April, the refund will be according to the original ticket rules. Bookings after April, the refund will be according to the original ticket rules. 

Rebooking and refund policy for group bookings: 

Free cancellations and changes for RU, JP, CN, KR routes until further notice. For non-ticketed bookings, no rebooking for other airlines. For all other routes free changes but refund is allowed only when flight is cancelled (even if only one flight in the itinerary has been cancelled).