Finnair flight to Hamburg rerouted in Helsinki due to “normal air traffic control activity”, not Russian planes, says Fintraffic

On Wednesday afternoon, a new flight path had to be drawn for at least one Finnair flight at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, confirms Finnair’s communications manager, Jenni Kiiski. The affected flight was headed to Hamburg, Germany.

Despite the change in route, the flight’s duration was not significantly affected and it even landed slightly ahead of schedule, says Kiiski. A passenger on the Hamburg flight reported that the pilot announced the rerouting was due to “Russian planes.”

However, Leena Huhtamaa, the responsibility and communications manager of Fintraffic, denies this claim. She states that there was no need to avoid other planes. “It was just normal air traffic control activity. There has been some rerouting due to thunder clouds, but nothing more special than that,” Huhtamaa explains. Huhtamaa could not specify how many flights were affected by the rerouting.

The Finnish Defence Forces also briefly commented on the matter. “There was Air Force activity in the southern Finland area yesterday afternoon, but we do not disclose details of the operation. We also do not comment on air traffic control, which is the responsibility of Fintraffic’s flight verification,” the Defence Forces communicated via email.