As of next Thursday, June 13, Finnair's two weekly flights to St Petersburg,
cancelled by Russian authorities in response to EU aircraft noise
restrictions affecting Russian aircraft, will be returned to the schedule.
The two flights, AY167 and AY 168, operating to and from Helsinki and St
Petersburg on Thursday and Friday evenings, will be restored to the
timetable as of the beginning of the week. Flights to Moscow removed from
the schedule, however, remain cancelled for the time being.
The EU's new restrictions came into force on April 1, 2002, and affect
traffic at airports within the European Union, to and from which jet
aircraft exceeding restricted noise levels may no longer fly. The limits
were approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as
long ago as 1991.
Not all Russian aircraft meet the required limits on noise, and have
therefore had restrictions placed on their operations. Because of this, the
Russian aviation authorities have imposed their own retaliatory restrictions
on flights operated by Finnair and other EU airlines to Russia. |