Finnair plans to cancel about 550 flights due to a political strike, the flag carrier said in a press release on Monday. The cancellations will affect approximately 60,000 passengers.

According to Finnair communications directorPäivyt Tallqvist, customers with tickets for cancelled flights will be offered the option of alternative routing or changing their travel plans.

According to Tallqvist, around 35,000 customers already changed their travel plans for the strike days last week. For those who did not do so, flight rerouting will be arranged.

In Tallqvist’s view, the industrial action seems overblown.

"It seems unreasonable that a political strike, which has nothing to do with Finnair, is causing trouble to so many of our customers," she told Yle.

Finnair will start registering the flight cancellations and alternate routing on Tuesday morning, one flight at a time. Customers will receive information about the cancellations and alternative routing once the cancellations are registered in online systems.

"For example, we may fly customers with other airlines," said Tallqvist, adding that arranging the rerouting will take about two days.

Any customer who is dissatisfied with the alternative routing offered can request a refund from Finnair, regardless of their ticket type.

Some flights may take off

Finnair aims to fly some individual flights on Thursday and Friday despite the strike. It will notify passengers about these on an individual basis.

According to Tallqvist, the success of each flight is the sum of many parts, so it is impossible to predict which flights might be flown. This depends, for instance, on staffing availability from airlines and airport operator Finavia.

"For example, without anti-icing personnel, planes cannot fly," she noted.

Some flights may be delayed, and there may be disruptions in baggage loading and the serving of drinks and food.

Scheduling problems may also occur after the strike on Saturday. Tallqvist also pointed out that Finnair's customer service is already congested.

"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. 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," saidJari Paajanen, Vice President, Finnair Operations Control Centre in a statement.

Finavia lists airport closures

The strikes will halt nearly all Finnish traffic at the country's major airports on Thursday and Friday, with the exception of the Utti and Halli military airports, which are primarily used by the Finnish Defence Forces.

According to Finavia, it is aware of capacity restrictions for commercial passenger and cargo air traffic on 1-2 February at airports in Helsinki, Ivalo, Jyväskylä, Kittilä, Kuopio, Kuusamo, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa.

Commercial passenger and cargo air traffic will stop completely on those two days at Joensuu, Kajaani, Kemi-Tornio, Kokkola-Pietarsaari, Pori and Savonlinna airports.

Taking part in the strikes are members of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors (JHL) who work for Finavia or Airpro, employees responsible for property maintenance, cleaning and security at airports serviced by the Service Union United PAM, and Finnair pilots who are members of the Finnish Airline Pilots' Association – at least.

Mariehamn Airport in the Åland islands will not be affected by the strike, Finavia said on Monday.

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