Apply for a scheduled service permit between Finland and a non-EU country

Scheduled service permits between Finland and countries outside of the EU, EEA and Switzerland are based on bilateral road transport agreements between Finland and said countries. The permit is issued together with the other party country of the relevant agreement, with Traficom issuing the permit for Finland. 

The obligations of carriers are determined based on the bilateral road transport agreements between Finland and the country of destination and any countries in between. The carrier must comply with all of the requirements of the relevant road transport agreement, the provisions of the Finnish Act on Transport Services (320/2017) and other applicable regulations.

Scheduled passenger services can be operated by carriers that have the right to provide international passenger transport services based on the legislation of their own country. In the case of Finnish carriers, this means that the carrier must hold a Community licence for the carriage of passengers. The carrier does not have the right to operate passenger or goods transport services between two locations in the area of the other party country.

An application for an international scheduled service permit between Finland and a non-EU/-EEA country must include as appendices a map showing the route and stops where passengers are picked up or set down and the timetable. In addition to this, the application or the included appendices must detail the service period and the regularity of the service. If the applicant has engaged in cooperation with a carrier or carriers in the other country prior to the application, the application must also include as an appendix a report on this cooperation.

Fill in the application and submit it to Traficom’s registry at kirjaamo@traficom.fi or alternatively by post to the address Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto, PL 320, 00059 TRAFICOM.

For more information on the scheduled service permit and how to apply for it, please send a message to ammattiliikenne@traficom.fi.

Traficom will issue a decision on the matter within a few months of receiving the carrier’s application. The permit is issued in agreement with the authorities of the destination country or with the consent of all the countries in whose territories passengers are picked up or set down. This means that the processing time of the application is affected by the internal approval processes of these other countries.

The application should preferably be submitted to Traficom first so that the compatibility of the timetable with existing routes can be determined and smooth traffic at border checkpoints can be ensured. After this, Traficom will send the permit documents that it issues for road sections in Finland to the competent authorities of the destination country.

The permit will be delivered to you using the delivery method that you specified on the application. The options are delivery by post or pick-up at a Traficom location. International scheduled service permits are issued at two Traficom locations: Helsinki and Lappeenranta.