Finland has banned flights from Macedonia after several Skopje – Turku flights in a row brought dozens of coronavirus infected patients. The line was popular with Kosovar emigrants to Finland who came to the Balkans on summer vacation.
After the initial “corona flight”, Finland re-introduced two weeks of quarantine for arrivals from high risk countries. Four flight in total brought over 60 patients to Finland.
The proposed recommendation came after 26 people tested positive on a flight from Skopje Airport to Finland on August 8th. The Wizz Air machine operated on the route from Skopje to Turku.
Five positive tests were reported on another flight from the same destination last Tuesday, and another 12 cases were detected on the flight that arrived in Finland from Macedonia last Saturday.
It is for this reason that the Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications, Timo Haraka, proposed this measure to the Finnish government. He noted that the measure was only temporary and added that similar measures were not being considered for other flights.
The Ministry of Health announced that these are passengers travelled from Macedonia or traveling through the country. Most of the people who tested positive come from Kosovo, as the Finnish authorities announced.
Wizz Air reduces Skopje - Turku operations
Low cost carrier Wizz Air has reduced its operations between Skopje and Turku to one per week over the next month after Finland announced it was considering temporarily banning the service due to a number of imported coronavirus cases linked to the flights. Operations will be maintained every Saturday until September 29, after which services will be restored to twice per week.