Tallink temporarily suspends the Riga-Helsinki route / Article / LSM.lv

Since Latvia Finland has also been included in the “list of countries of self-isolation”, The Estonian ferry operator Tallink Grupp has decided to suspend the operation of the Riga-Helsinki route from September 28 to the end of October, informed Esenija Zīriņa, public relations project manager of Tallink Latvija. –

In the coming weeks, the company will evaluate the possible resumption of the route in November and December.

The Riga-Helsinki route has been operating every other day since June with the Silja Serenade and two cruises a week with the Baltic Queen from mid-September.

The company said that during the busiest season of the season, the ship carried 1,500 to 2,000 passengers on each voyage, but the number of passengers decreased from mid-August, and regional governments began to issue new travel recommendations in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.

“The number of passengers on the route has gradually decreased since mid – August, but we have been able to keep the route running without loss.

However, after extended “yellow list” published today “It is clear that we will not be able to continue operating on this route, as the number of passengers will decrease significantly and to ensure that our business does not suffer losses, we have no choice but to stop this traveler’s favorite route,” explained Pavo Negene, Chairman of Tallink Grupp. .

He stated that he understood the decisions of the Latvian authorities to limit the spread of the virus. However, “given the catastrophic situation in the tourism sector and the lack of light at the end of the tunnel, we hope that an exception will be made for those tourists who arrive in the morning and return the same evening, thus creating less risk for Latvian society than for tourists who remain. in the country longer “.

“A more differentiated approach with exceptions would have been essential to help the region’s tourism industry and would have allowed us to maintain the route between Latvia and Finland,” said Negene.

Tallink’s customer service specialists will contact all travelers who have booked trips with Baltic Queen in the near future to agree on transfer or refund options.

CONTEXT:

The only European country from which you do not have to observe 10 days of self-isolation when returning to Latvia is the Vatican. “Yellow list” with countries where there is a medium risk to health, but when returning from which self-isolation must be observed, Finland is also included.

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