Tallink Grupp suspends Helsinki-Riga route until spring 2021
Tallink Grupp has today announced that it will suspend the operation of the Helsinki-Riga route and will cancel all trips until spring 2021. The company initially announced last Friday, 25 September, that it is suspending the route until the end of October this year and will make a decision regarding the operation of the route beyond that in the coming weeks. Following an assessment of the bookings on the route for the coming months, however, the company has already this week made the decision to suspend the route’s operations until spring 2021. Depending on the developments of the coronavirus situation, lifting of the travel restrictions in the region, demand from travellers and the outcome of discussions with the governments regarding cooperation on the route operations, the company currently plans to re-open the route from May 2021.
Following the decision made by the Latvian authorities last Friday, 25 September, to add Finland to the „yellow“ countries list and thus requiring all travellers arriving from Finland to self-isolate for 10 days upon arrival in Latvia, the company saw an immediate and significant drop in the bookings for the popular temporary route between Finland and Latvia.
Commenting on the decision to suspend the route until next spring, Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp said:
„The decision to suspend a route never comes easy and hasn’t got easier as we navigate through this challenging year with its continuous ups and downs. However, as the newly imposed travel restrictions by Latvia have immediately and significantly impacted the bookings for the months ahead on this route, we have no choice but to suspend operations on this route to avoid operating with a loss.
„We hope to reopen this route from May 2021 according to current plans, and discussions with the authorities and various other parties in Latvia and Riga are already ongoing regarding this.“
Customers with bookings for trips on this route will be contacted by Tallink Customer services teams as soon as possible.
AS Tallink Grupp is one of the leading providers of passenger transport and cargo transport services in the northern part of the Baltic Sea region. The company owns 15 vessels and operates several ferry routes under the brand names of Tallink and Silja Line. AS Tallink Grupp employs around 6,000 people in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Russia and Germany. In 2019, Tallink Grupp provided services to 9.8 million travellers and transported approximately 380,000 freight units of goods. The shares of Tallink Grupp are listed on the Tallinn Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange.
