2 aircraft land at Helsinki after closure of St Petersburg airport

Two aircraft bound for St Petersburg, Russia landed at the Helsinki Airport in the early morning of Saturday, said Finnish Coast Guard.

The aircraft departed from Serbia had to make the unscheduled landings following closure of the St Petersburg airport due to recent attacks by Ukraine on Russian ports along the Gulf of Finland.

"After refuelling, one aircraft was able to continue its journey, while the other remained at Helsinki-Vantaa [airport] due to a technical issue," said the Coast Guard in a post on its social media platform X in Finnish.

The passengers of the other aircraft were also able to continue their journey on a replacement aircraft sent by the airline.

Earlier, the Finnish Defence Forces intensified surveillance measures to ensure territorial integrity when Ukraine carried out attacks against Russian targets in the eastern Gulf of Finland.

Air Forces has flown F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets over densely populated areas of southern Finland following Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil ports across the Gulf of Finland.