This situation overview provides information on airspace infringements. The information is produced by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom and updated in English annually. In Finnish the information is updated twice a year.
N.B: For most up-to-date information on airspace infringements, change language selection to Finnish.
Airspace infringements 2024
In 2024, 150 airspace infringements were reported in Finland. The number was exactly on par with the average for 2014-2023. The number clearly increased compared to the previous year. There was no significant growth in any single area of aviation, but the number of infringements increased evenly in all areas.
Controlled airspace
Last year, 113 airspace infringements of controlled airspace were reported in Finland, which was largely in line with the average of previous years. The incidents did not result in serious incidents. The majority of the violations (34) were in the airspace of Helsinki-Vantaa, where the number of violations was in line with the long-term average. The other most common targets were Tampere-Pirkkala (9), Oulu, Turku and Ivalo (7 each). Ivalo has risen in the statistics in recent years. Tampere-Pirkkala and Oulu have traditionally been at the top. In 2023, a large part of the violations in Ivalo were caused by drones, but last year their share was smaller.
General aviation caused the majority of infringements (45), and the number was slightly above the long-term average. Most violations were in the airspace of Helsinki-Vantaa, but the numbers remained at the average level. Infringements caused by recreational aviation remained at the long-term average level and were mostly in the airspace of Helsinki. 15 infringements caused by drones were reported, and they were mainly concentrated in the Helsinki area. The total number remained slightly lower than the previous year and did not deviate significantly from the average.
Typical causes of airspace infringements were navigation errors, which resulted in the aircraft entering the terminal area from the bottom or side. In connection with navigation errors, the pilot usually also failed to establish the required radio contact with air traffic control. Last year, these deficiencies were reported more than in previous years. It is often difficult to assess whether the lack of radio contact was due to a mistake or the pilot's incorrect perception of his own position.
Pilots of manned aircraft are generally good at reporting airspace violations they cause. Drone pilots, on the other hand, rarely report them. Last year, however, there was one report in which the pilot admitted to accidentally flying a drone at an altitude of 120 meters in an area where the maximum permitted altitude without special permission was 50 meters. He stated that he had relied too much on the device's geo-restrictions. Situations like this can be easily avoided by checking the flight area restrictions, for example, in the Flyk application (External link).
Prohibited areas
Airspace infringements can target prohibited areas established around nuclear power plants, for example.
In 2024, one airspace infringement was reported to prohibited areas. In that case, a foreign aircraft had flown through the prohibited area of the Loviisa nuclear power plant.
In previous years, there have been incidents slightly less than 3 per year. The last couple of years have gone quite well.
Restricted areas
Airspace infringements may target restricted areas established to protect aviation from dangerous activities, such as shootings or detonations.
In 2024, there were 24 unauthorized flights into restricted areas. The number was slightly below the average for 2014-2023, but higher than a few previous years. The most frequent flights were into restricted areas R113 Huovinrinne and R94 Hätilä. Huovinrinne has also been an area that has been frequently flown into in previous years.
Overall, the most unauthorized flights have been into the R64 Santahamina area outside Helsinki, but in the last few years the number of flights there has been zero.
Different airspaces and where to find more information about them
Airspace infringements to controlled airspace, i.e. airspace where air traffic control services are provided, increase the risk of collision between aircraft.
Flying without permission into a Restricted area (R), where shooting, detonations or other activities dangerous to aviation are taking place, poses an obvious danger to an individual aircraft. The purpose of Prohibited areas (P), on the other hand, is to protect objects of national importance, such as government buildings and nuclear power plants.
In addition to restricted and prohibited areas, danger areas (D) may be published in situations where, for example, there is active aviation activity in the area, unmanned aviation beyond visual line of sight or other activities that are dangerous to other aviation. However, flights into danger areas may be permitted at the discretion of the aircraft commander without separate permission, so they do not restrict the use of airspace in the same way as restricted or prohibited areas. In these cases, it is also recommended to find out the nature of the activity in the area before flying and to contact the party that reserved the area, if possible.
Prohibited areas are always active, while other airspaces, such as controlled airspace and restricted areas, are activated as needed. For example, controlled airspace is active when there is flight activity at an airport, and a restricted area is activated when an activity hazardous to aviation begins. Restricted and prohibited areas can be either temporary or permanent.
In addition, some airspaces have been designated as UAS airspace zones. These can be either prohibiting or restricting the operation of unmanned aircraft, or allowing, where operations carried out with unmanned aircraft are exempted from some of the requirements relating to them. These are specified in aviation regulation OPS M1-29 and its annexes.
In addition to the above areas, certain airspace areas have been designated as Radio Mandatory Zones (RMZ), where aircraft must be equipped with radio equipment and its use is mandatory. These areas are regulated in Aviation Regulation OPS M1-17.
Some areas are designated as Transponder Mandatory Zones (TMZ), where aircraft must be equipped with a pressure altitude transponder and its use is mandatory. These are regulated in Aviation Regulation OPS M1-31.
You can find all aviation regulations on Traficom's website (External link).
Permanent restricted, prohibited and danger areas are published in Part ENR 5 of the Finnish Aviation Manual (External link)(AIP). Temporary areas, such as those established to protect police or rescue operations, may be published at short notice. Information on temporary areas can be found in NOTAM bulletins, which are available at https://www.ais.fi/bulletins/ (External link).
The Flyk application (External link)displays active airspaces and information on activities hazardous to aviation from AIP, AIP Supplements, NOTAM bulletins and AUP/UUP plans (Airspace Use Plan). Flyk also displays various prohibited and restricted UAS airspace zones. However, the user must note that the Flyk map is only an informative tool and does not relieve the user of the responsibility to familiarize themselves with the necessary NOTAM and AUP/UUP information.
The European Action Plan for Airspace Infringement Risk Reduction (EAPAIRR) contains a comprehensive list of recommendations to reduce airspace infringements. The recommendations are targeted by groups to those parties that have an impact on airspace infringements (e.g. airspace users, air navigation service providers and aeronautical information and meteorological services). The plan was last updated in March 2022. Traficom encourages aviators and aviation organisations to familiarise themselves with the recommendations and good practices of the EAPAIRR and to implement them in their own operations to the extent practical. The plan can be found on the Eurocontrol website. (External link)
Interactive report
Traficom publishes an interactive report containing further information on airspace infringements here (External link). (link opens to Microsoft app.power.com).
