Finnair has issued an unusually detailed travel bulletin ahead of the FIS Ruka Nordic World Cup, which ended on 30 November but continues to generate an outbound surge of winter-sports traffic through 2 December. The flag-carrier expects Helsinki-Vantaa, Kuusamo and Oulu to handle their busiest weekend of the season, with many charter flights operating at the edge of runway-performance limits because of heavy ski equipment.
The airline is urging passengers to pre-pay ski-bag fees online, attach two name-tags (one inside the bag), and keep cabin-baggage below 8 kg. Travellers connecting onto oneworld partners have been told to allow an extra 30 minutes to settle any second-sector sports-equipment fees, a point corporate travel managers will want to flag to time-sensitive executives. Finnair has also reminded customers that fluorinated ski wax is classified as a dangerous good and must not be packed in either hold or hand luggage.
![Finnair warns of oversized-baggage bottlenecks as ski crowds head to Ruka Nordic World Cup]()
Operationally, the carrier has added extra baggage-handlers at Helsinki and drafted volunteers from headquarters to staff Do-It-Yourself bag-drop terminals. It is also pushing real-time baggage tracking in the Finnair app—a feature that can shorten mishandled-bag recovery times by several hours, according to internal trials.
Why it matters: Lapland incentives and customer-hosting trips are back in force after two lean pandemic winters. Mobility teams arranging group travel to Finnish winter resorts should pre-register sports gear, purchase excess-baggage in advance and build slack into ground-transport schedules in case bags miss tight domestic connections. Failure to do so could see VIP guests arrive in Kuusamo minus skis—or worse, minus winter clothing—in sub-zero temperatures.
Looking ahead, Finnair says Sunday-night departures from Kuusamo and Oulu are already sold out. Companies still seeking seats are advised to route travellers via Rovaniemi or Kemi-Tornio and complete the journey by road.
The airline is urging passengers to pre-pay ski-bag fees online, attach two name-tags (one inside the bag), and keep cabin-baggage below 8 kg. Travellers connecting onto oneworld partners have been told to allow an extra 30 minutes to settle any second-sector sports-equipment fees, a point corporate travel managers will want to flag to time-sensitive executives. Finnair has also reminded customers that fluorinated ski wax is classified as a dangerous good and must not be packed in either hold or hand luggage.
Operationally, the carrier has added extra baggage-handlers at Helsinki and drafted volunteers from headquarters to staff Do-It-Yourself bag-drop terminals. It is also pushing real-time baggage tracking in the Finnair app—a feature that can shorten mishandled-bag recovery times by several hours, according to internal trials.
Why it matters: Lapland incentives and customer-hosting trips are back in force after two lean pandemic winters. Mobility teams arranging group travel to Finnish winter resorts should pre-register sports gear, purchase excess-baggage in advance and build slack into ground-transport schedules in case bags miss tight domestic connections. Failure to do so could see VIP guests arrive in Kuusamo minus skis—or worse, minus winter clothing—in sub-zero temperatures.
Looking ahead, Finnair says Sunday-night departures from Kuusamo and Oulu are already sold out. Companies still seeking seats are advised to route travellers via Rovaniemi or Kemi-Tornio and complete the journey by road.
