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Finnair prepares for a possible strike by Finnish Aviation Union on May 19-20

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If the strike threat is not withdrawn, Finnair is forced to cancel flights

The Finnish Aviation Union has issued a strike warning for 19-20 May 2015, and the possible strike would impact also Finnair and its subcontractors. The strike is in connection to a dispute related to a collective labour agreement applied to a Finnish ground handling company. Finnair is not a party to the dispute in any way. The strike would also impact other airlines operating to and from Finland.

Even though the dispute is not related to Finnair, the strike would, if implemented, have significant impacts on Finnair flights, as it would bring Finnair's baggage and ground handling services to a complete halt for several hours during peak travel hours on 19-20 May. The strike would thus disrupt the travel plans of thousands of Finnair customers. Finnair has already offered customers the possibility to change their travel dates to avoid traveling on the possible strike days.

If the strike threat is not withdrawn, Finnair is forced to cancel many of its flights on 19-20 May, to avoid a situation where thousands of customers would be stranded at Helsinki Airport when their connecting flights cannot be operated. Some cancellations will also have to be made on May 18 and May 21.

  • First cancellations will be made for certain flights for Monday, 18 May, and Finnair will inform customers of these cancellations on Sunday, 17 May. Finnair will also publish a list of the cancelled flights on its webpages at http://www.finnair.com/info
  • Decisions on cancellations for Tuesday 19 May will be made on Monday 18 May, and Finnair will inform customers of these cancellations via short messages and email.
  • Decisions on cancellations for Wednesday 20 May will be made on Tuesday, 19 May and Finnair will inform customers of these cancellations via short messages and email.
  • The strike would also impact Finnair's traffic on Thursday May 21. Decisions on flight cancellations for Thursday will be made on Wednesday May 20, and Finnair will inform customers of these cancellations via short messages and email.
  • Finnair will publish a list of flights to be operated on Tuesday 18 May on Monday, 17 May, and a list of flights to be operated on Wednesday 20 May on Tuesday, 19 May at http://www.finnair.com/info.

Finnair recommends its customers to:

  • Please check from Manage booking that we have your current contact information.
  • Follow the flight situation at http://www.finnair.com/int/gb/flights/flightlist
  • If your flight is cancelled, you can choose whether to change the travel time or get rerouted when rerouting possibilities are available, or get a refund.
  • If your flight is on the list of flights to be operated on Tuesday or Wednesday, please complete your check-in online and travel with hand baggage only, as the strike impacts our customer service and baggage handling operations.

Finnair customers can get up to date information by following the following channels:

Further information:
Finnair Media Desk, +358 9 818 4020, comms(a)finnair.com  
Finnair Gallery: http://gallery.finnair.com  
Finnair on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Finnair
Finnair blogs: http://blogs.finnair.com
Finnair on Facebook: www.facebook.com/finnair
Finnair Group website: www.finnairgroup.com

About Finnair
Finnair flies between Asia, Europe and North America with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki, carrying more than nine million passengers annually and connecting 15 cities in Asia with more than 60 destinations in Europe. The airline, a pioneer in sustainable flying, will be the European launch customer of the next-generation, eco-smart Airbus A350 XWB aircraft and is the first airline listed in the Leadership Index of the worldwide Carbon Disclosure Project. The only Nordic carrier with a 4-star Skytrax ranking, Finnair has also won the World Airline Award for Best Airline Northern Europe for the past five years running. Finnair is a member of oneworld, the alliance of the world's leading airlines committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience to frequent international travellers.

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