Finnair Cancels Over 90 Flights on Friday, 17 March 2017

Finnair has announced that it will cancel over 90 flights on Friday, 17 March due to strikes at Helsinki Airport.

An airport strike and support actions are planned for Friday, 17 March 2017 from 3 pm – 7 pm EET at Helsinki Airport, related to the dispute between the Finnish Aviation Union and the service sector employer union Palta.

The airport strike will again considerably impact Finnair’s flights on Friday, even though Finnair is in no way a party in the dispute.

The impact is expected to be approximately the same as the strike which took place last Friday.

“This is already the second time we have to cancel over 90 flights, which is nearly one third of our daily flights on Friday. Cancellations apply to a large share of our domestic and European traffic during the strike time,” said Jaakko Schildt, Finnair’s Chief Operating Officer. “The cancellations unfortunately again disrupt the travel plans of thousands of Finnair customers. We sincerely apologize for the trouble and concern this is causing to our customers. We hope that the parties to the dispute will reach an agreement as soon as possible.”

In addition to the cancellations, Finnair will also make changes to the departure times of certain flights, so that they can be operated outside the strike hours.

A list of cancellations and further information is available on Finnair's website. Finnair will also communicate with text messages and emails directly to customers whose flights are impacted.

“We ask our customers for patience, as contacting over 6,500 customers and finding suitable rerouting for them unfortunately takes some time. Last week we started contacting customers on Thursday morning and we were able to reach everyone by noon on Friday,” Schildt said.

The catering for flights that are flown during the strike will be limited, except for long-haul flights.

Finnair advises customers to reserve enough time when arriving for their flights, as delays are expected at Helsinki Airport. Customers are also asked to travel with hand luggage only, if possible, as there will be considerable delays in baggage handling on Friday.

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