The flight connection between the Finnish city of Turku and Skopje, the capital of Northern Macedonia, will be suspended for two weeks since Friday 28 August, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) said in a press release.
The suspension of the flights, operated by the company WizzAir, will be in force until 10 September 2020.
Traficom says the decision is currently "a proportionate measure to limit the spread of the coronavirus."
The agency has consulted the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) wether suspending the air traffic is the right decision in this situation. According to the statement received by Traficom, the suspension of the air services is "proportionate to the objective of protecting the population from the spread of a contagious infectious disease."
Confrontation
More than 60 people infected with Covid-19 have flown to Finland from Skopje in the past weeks.
A few days ago, the issue of the Skopje flights sparked a confrontation between the Minister of Transport Timo Harakka (SDP), a supporter of the suspension, and the Minister of the Interior, Maria Ohisalo (Green League), who reminded him of the constitutional right of all residents in Finland to leave the country or return.
Two days later, amid an increase of diagnosed cases in the country, the government held a meeting to discuss new restrictions in order to curb the epidemic. But no decision was made on the matter of the WizzAir flights, which was sent to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom for assessment.
