Employees of companies providing ground handling services to Finnair have participated in an unannounced walkout at Helsinki Airport on 19 September 2023 starting at 3 pm. Ground service companies provide Finnair with baggage and cargo loading services, among other things.

The walkout has an impact on Finnair's traffic. We were forced to cancel flights on 19-20 September 2023, and baggage handling were delayed on September 19, 2023.

The staff of the companies producing ground services have returned to work on September 20, 2023. We expect traffic to return to normal during Wednesday. Delays are expected in the handling of baggage. If your baggage is delayed, we will deliver it to you as soon as possible and we will contact you to arrange the delivery. You can read more delayed baggage information here.

We are monitoring the situation closely and will update this page with the latest information. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and harm this situation may cause you. 

We have cancelled the following flights on 19 September 2023:

• AY441/2 Helsinki – Oulu – Helsinki
• AY993/4 Helsinki – Keflavik – Helsinki 
• AY1255/6 Helsinki – Budapest – Helsinki
• AY1755/6 Helsinki – Milan – Helsinki
• AY1513/4 Helsinki – Zürich – Helsinki
• AY345/6 Helsinki – Joensuu – Helsinki
• AY1075/6 Helsinki – Riga – Helsinki
• AY415/6 Helsinki – Kajaani – Helsinki
• AY1105/6 Helsinki – Vilnius – Helsinki
• AY1023/4 Helsinki – Tallinn – Helsinki
• AY315/6 Helsinki – Vaasa – Helsinki
• AY369/70 Helsinki – Kuopio – Helsinki
• AY1373/4 Helsinki – Edinburgh – Helsinki
• AY1425/6 Helsinki – Hamburg – Helsinki
• AY1395/6 Helsinki – Düsseldorf – Helsinki
• AY915/6 Helsinki – Oslo – Helsinki
• AY815/6 Helsinki – Stockholm Arlanda – Helsinki
• AY1385/6 Helsinki – Dublin – Helsinki
• AY632 Kokkola – Kemi – Helsinki
• AY1581 Helsinki – Paris
• AY1549 Helsinki – Brussels
• AY961 Helsinki – Copenhagen
• AY1145/6 Helsinki – Warsaw – Helsinki
• AY1223/4 Helsinki – Prague - Helsinki

We have cancelled the following flights on 20 September 2023:

• AY1582 Paris – Helsinki
• AY1550 Brussels – Helsinki
• AY961 Copenhagen – Helsinki

If your flight is operated, we recommend arriving at Helsinki Airport latest two hours before the flight. You can check Helsinki Airport’s departing and arriving flights here.

How do I know if my flight is cancelled? 

If you have a booking on any of the disrupted flights, we’ll contact you personally via SMS and/or e-mail. You can find your new flight details in Manage Booking and Finnair app within the next few hours after you have received the cancellation notification. Please go to Manage booking and check that we have your current contact information.

You can choose from the following options, if your flight is cancelled

• You can change your travel date +/ 14 days from the original date online via Manage booking or by contacting Finnair Customer Service.
• We do our best to re-route you to your destination as soon as possible. As availability of alternative flights is limited, re-routing may take time. Thank you for your patience. We’ll send you your new flight information via SMS and/or email, and you can check it and other possible flight options also via Manage booking.
• If we were are unable to offer you an alternative flight but you wish to travel, you can contact our customer service for re-arrengements.
• In case you don’t want to use any of the flights in your booking and want to cancel your whole booking and apply for a refund or we have cancelled all the flights in your booking, you can apply for a refund online in Manage booking. 
• If you want to use some of the flights in your booking and apply for a refund of a cancelled flight, please contact our customer service. 
• For flight tickets purchased through other service providers, such as a travel agent, please contact them directly to make changes to your booking or apply for a refund

Limited services on flights to be operate

As our baggage handling services will be disrupted, there may be delays in baggage deliveries. We recommend you to pack the most essentials, like medicines, in your carry-on baggage, following the carry-on baggage allowance and consider travelling with carry-on baggage only. If your baggage didn’t arrive on the same flight with you or got broken during the flight, please read your next steps here.

Contacting our customer service

If you booked your ticket through a travel agency or a tour operator, please contact them to make changes to your reservation or to apply for a refund. If you booked your ticket through Finnair, our customer service is working hard to help you in this exceptional situation. We recommend the chat service on our website or via Finnair mobile app. We are sorry that our customer service may be congested.

In case you need hotel accommodation due to our re-booking and you have already started your journey, we will try to arrange hotel accommodation for you. If you are at the airport, please contact our ground crew at the airport. If we couldn’t arrange accommodation for you or if you are not at the airport and you choose our rebooking, you can book the accommodation yourself and apply for a compensation of reasonable hotel and ground transportation costs afterwards from us. Please keep the receipts for the claim and contact us via our contact and request forms.

You can check your passenger rights here.