Finnair makes travelling easier by digitalising coronavirus certificate checks

Checking coronavirus related certificates is?an important part of international travel?today and requires effort from both travellers and airlines.?Finnair?now?introduces a new digital tool?with which customers can?confirm?their coronavirus certificates?before their journey.?

The?service?is available as of?3 December?2021?for?travellers from?Finland?to Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland as part of the current check-in done online or through the Finnair app.?The current list of countries is subject to change due to, for example, additional authority travel requirements. The tool will be expanded to other destination countries at a later stage.

The new tool?digitalises parts of the?current paper documentation system for corona related travel document management and checks at airports.?With the tool, people travelling to the included destinations can confirm that they have the corona certificates required by the destination authorities. Travellers can do this as part of the check-in online or through the Finnair app. Customers will get a “clear to travel” confirmation together with an online boarding pass. No certificate checks are needed at the airport. However, corona related travel documents may be asked at the destination.

“The tool is?designed?to make travelling smoother for our customers, as they can go directly to bag drop or via security check to the boarding gate, without having to show their corona certificates at the airport. They can also travel with more peace of mind, as they already?know?in advance that their documents are?confirmed,” states?Sami Suokas, responsible for?airport customer processes at Finnair. Authorities may still check documents on arrival, so customers must be prepared to present them. It is always the traveller’s responsibility to ensure they have the relevant documentation for entry.

The new tool will be?introduced?in two phases.?On?3 December?2021,?customers?travelling from Finland?to?Austria,?Belgium, Czech?Republic,?Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain?and Switzerland?will be?able to use it.?Early next year, Finnair will add?an upload functionality?into the?tool, which?enables customers to upload?or scan?their corona certificates for verification. With this?feature in place,?the service?will?become available?for more destinations and customers.