A large number of Porsches, Bentleys and other luxury cars with Russian license plates fill the parking garage at Helsinki airport for one reason only – Finland is becoming an important transit point for Russian tourists going from there to other European countries.

However, soon this too will change drastically.

The EU closed its airspace to Russian planes after Moscow invaded Ukraine, forcing anyone wanting to travel to Europe to drive across the border or take a detour using other airlines, theguardian reports.

Since Russia's coronavirus restrictions were lifted in July, there has been a boom in Russian travelers and a growing backlash in Europe against Russian travelers amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

A quick walk through the parking lot at Helsinki Airport revealed dozens, if not hundreds, of high-end cars with Russian license plates, including the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan and the Porsche 911 Turbo S.

Porsches and Bentleys fill Helsinki airport as Russian tourists head to Europe https://t.co/WmfI8ADiS3

— Guardian Australia (@GuardianAus) August 23, 2022

"It surprises me.

I wish they weren't here before the situation in Ukraine was resolved," said Finnish passenger Juri Hirvonen, after exiting the garage.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Havisto said that Finland has become a "transit country" for Russian tourists.

"Helsinki Airport is currently receiving many Russian tourists," he added.

Finland announced last week that it would limit the number of Russian tourist visas to 10 percent of the current volume from September 1, following growing dissatisfaction with Russian tourist travel due to the war in Ukraine.

Russians continue to enter Finland with visas issued by other EU countries in the Schengen border-free travel area.

"They thus come with Schengen visas issued by other EU countries and then continue through Helsinki airport," Havisto said.

According to a survey conducted by the Finnish border guard in August, about two-thirds of Russians who cross Finland's eastern border do so with a Schengen visa issued by a country other than Finland.

"Spain, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Greece and Spain usually issue visas to Russians and are generally among the countries that issue the most each year," said Mert Sacioglu, a border police official.

Many eastern EU members stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians immediately after the February 24 invasion, but Russians with visas issued by other countries are allowed to enter EU territory.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Tuesday that he may seek a "regional solution" to ban Russian tourists if EU member states fail to agree on bloc-wide sanctions.

He expects to speak to Latvia, Poland, Finland and Estonia next, on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague.

"First of all, we are looking for a European solution because it is more stable and legally correct," Landsbergis told reporters in Vilnius.

"If we do not achieve it, we do not rule out the possibility of seeking a regional solution that would include the Baltic states, Poland and Finland," he added.

He emphasized that such an action would be "difficult".

Havisto said that Schengen rules do not allow Finland to close its borders to members of a particular nationality, because only the EU can decide on such sanctions.

This opinion was shared by many Finns at the airport.

"The EU must take a decision to close the border," said one passenger.

The Nordic country intends to raise the issue at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Czech Republic on August 30.