Porsches and Bentleys pile up at Helsinki-Vantaa airport as the Russians bypass the no-fly zone
Expensive luxury cars including Porsches and Bentleys have become a central feature of the Helsinki airport parking garage as wealthy Russians look for ways to avoid EU restrictions on travel from Russia.
One of the European Union’s reactions attack on Ukraine was to ban Russian aircraft from entering European airspace, which has made it difficult for Russians to travel from the country. The solution for those who are close enough to make a road trip is to travel to neighboring Finland and fly from the capital’s Helsinki Airport.
Tourists arrive in Finland with a visa issued by one of the many countries and travel only through Helsinki to their final destination. In July alone, more than 230,000 border crossings were made from Russia to Finland, compared to 125,000 in June, when Russia’s COVID travel restrictions were still in effect.
But many Finns, including the country’s foreign minister Pekka Haavisto, are not satisfied with the situation. According to EU rules, Finland cannot close its own borders to certain nationalities. Such a decision can only be made at the EU level, and that is what Haavisto wants to happen next.
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The luxury cars of Russian tourists fill Helsinki Airport.
Porsches, Bentleys and other luxury cars with Russian license plates fill the airport parking garage as Finland becomes a key transit country for Russian tourists flying to Europehttps://t.co/6nDdsdFsPm pic.twitter.com/BL80KkZBK7
– AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 24, 2022
“It would be good if the countries were ready to discuss the situation at the EU foreign ministers’ meeting at the end of August”, Haavisto told News agency AFP.
“And at the same time that Finland and the Baltic countries are going to limit these visas, it would be good if all EU countries made similar decisions,” he added.
Russian tourists who spoke to AFP at Helsinki Airport were less enthusiastic about the possibility of restricting their travel options.
“I’m not sure we shouldn’t be allowed to travel,” Pavel Alekhin told reporters. “I think everyone should travel because when you see how other peaceful countries live, you become more peaceful too.”