Legacy carrier Finnair has stepped up measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

The airline’s in-flight meal and beverage service will be reduced; duty-free or pre-order shopping will no longer be available at this time, and its lounges at Helsinki Airport will be closed.

The measures complement those already implemented on board Finnair flights to limit close contact between customer and crew in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

These include leaving lids and foils in place on in-flight meals and the use of plastic gloves during the whole drink and meal service, as well as for clearing meal services and cleaning.

Customers’ own water bottles or containers will not be filled on board, there will be no hot towel service and wet wipes are available to customers with meal trays.

In addition, bread service will be restricted to pre-packed rye bread on meal tray set-ups. In some cases, cabin crew may remove breadbasket service altogether, or deliver it with the use of tongs.

The airline says that it may also restrict service to individually packed products and reduce the number of services to one per flight on trips under three hours. The Finnair crew may also use respiratory masks during duty, should they so wish.

The airline urges passengers to be vigilant against the spread of the disease, noting that good hand hygiene is still recommended as the number one method of preventing infectious diseases from spreading.

It advises that passengers should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and should not touch their eyes, nose or mouth if they have not washed your hands.

If hand washing is not possible in-flight, such as when the seatbelt sign is illuminated, for instance, it recommends that passengers use hand sanitiser.

Finnair adds that passengers may also want to use a wipe with sanitiser to clean the surfaces that they touch frequently around their seat – for example the tray table before they eat. Lastly, it cautions that for the wellbeing of fellow travellers, passengers should refrain from travelling if they feel unwell.