Finnair to cancel 550 flights due to strike on Feb 1,2

National flag carrier Finnair estimated that about 550 flights will be cancelled on February 1 and February 2 due to the strike announced by different trade unions protesting against the labour market reforms and cuts in working condition undertaken by the four-party alliance government.

JHL together with the service sector union -PAM, the Finnish Aviation Union- IAU, the Finnish Transport Workers' Union- AKT and the Finnish Airline Pilots' Association- SLL are observing the strike demanding stop of the government´s initiatives.

Finnair has about 280 flights per day in its normal traffic program, so the vast majority of flights will be cancelled, said the airline in a press release on Monday.

Finnair targets to operate few flights during the strike and will communicate directly to those customers who have booking on flights that will be flown.

The airline will implement flight cancellations in its systems one flight at a time, starting from Tuesday morning, with passengers being offered alternative routings.

Passengers on long-haul flights with onward connections from Helsinki on February 1–2 will be routed directly to their destinations, as there are no connections from Helsinki during the strike.

During the strike, ground services, such as baggage loading​,​ and ​inflight service (e.g. food and drink offerings)​, may be ​affected​ and the flights that ​do operate​ on those days may be delayed.

"We have already given customers the opportunity to change their travel dates on Finnair flights. From January 30 onwards we start rerouting customers, using also other airlines’ flights,” said Jari Paajanen, Vice President, Finnair Operations Control Center.

Due to the large number of cancelled flights and customers, processing the cancellations and rerouting customers takes about two days.

"We ask customers to kindly wait for the rerouting from us, as our customer service team is busier than usual and queue times can be long,” Paajanen said, adding, "we will do our very best to offer a suitable flight option to as many customers as possible, but the number of alternative flights is limited."

Already on January 19, Finnair offered its passengers the possibility to move their flights away from strike days.

Passengers with bookings on Finnair flights between February 1 and February 2 have been able to bring their trip forward or postpone it so that the travel date is no later than March 15, 2024.

If the passengers' ticket type normally allows for changes, they can change travel dates themselves in Manage booking service on Finnair's website. If the customer's ticket type does not allow for changes, a cost-free change to the travel date can be made by contacting the travel agency that booked the ticket or Finnair customer service.

If it is not possible for the customer to change the time of their travel, they can cancel their reservation and apply for a refund for the unused ticket.

The Railway Union Associationtrade (Rautatiealan Unioni Ry-RAU) on January 26 decided to observe strike on February 2 expressing solidarity with the countrywide 48-hour strike called by different trade unions.

Flights operations also will remain suspended across the country on February 1 and 2 due to the strike.

Members of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors- JHL working for Finavia or Airpro will observe the strike from 12.01 am on February 1 to 11.59 pm on February 2 resulting suspension of the flights operation.

Public transport services will remain suspended and early childhood education (daycare) will remain closed in the capital region due to the strike.

The Helsingin seudun liikenne (Helsinki Regional Transport Authority)- HSL on January 25 said that bus workers decided to join the strike as a result HSL bus services will not operate on February 2.