On 19 January 2024, several trade unions in Finland announced a 48-hour political industrial action that will also impact air transport from 1 to 2 February 2024. The strike will significantly disrupt Finnair's operations at Helsinki Airport and affect almost all our critical functions, which, unfortunately, means that we must cancel majority of our daily operations, approximately 550 Finnair flights.

Transfer customers on long-haul flights to Helsinki with connecting flights from Helsinki onwards on 1–2 February, we will try to reroute directly to the final destination, as there are no connecting flights available from Helsinki Airport during the strike days.  

Our customer service is currently congested as we are working hard to help you in this exceptional situation. We are sorry for the inconvenience and uncertainty this situation may cause you. We will update any new information on this page.

How do I know if my flight is cancelled?

We will cancel flights one flight at a time from Tuesday morning, 30 January 2024, and we will automatically offer you a new flight if your 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. Please go to Manage booking and check that we have your current contact information. We will send you messages about the cancellation and your new flight as soon as we have cancelled your flight in our systems. You will see your new flight details also in Manage booking and Finnair mobile app when the change has been made. Because of the high number of cancellations, it will take a few days for us to make the rebookings. Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

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

• We will do our best to re-route you to your destination as soon as possible. As the 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. Please accept the change or see other possible flight options in Manage booking.  

• In case you don’t want to use any of the flights in your booking and want to cancel your whole booking, 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.  

Travelling on the day of the strike

It is likely that there will be disruptions in ground services, such as baggage handling and catering on flights, during the strike days. Flight delays and schedule changes are also possible. We recommend packing the most essentials, like medicines, in your carry-on baggage following your carry-on baggage allowance that you can check in Finnair app or in Manage booking. 

All Finnair lounges are closed 1–2 February. Lounge-eligible customers travelling on our long-haul flights departing on 2 February can use the services of the Plaza Premium lounge at gate 40. Priority fast track -lanes in Helsinki Airport security are also closed during the industrial action.  

If you want to re-schedule your journey

If you have a booking on 31 January – 3 February 2024, you can re-schedule your journey so that it starts on 15 March 2024 at the latest. 

• If your ticket type allows travel date changes, you can make the changes yourself in Manage booking. 

• If your ticket type does not allow changes or you wish to avoid paying any extra charges regarding the ticket change, you can change the travel date by 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. 

• Please note that if you change your booking voluntarily and your flight has not been cancelled, Finnair is not obliged to compensate for possible care costs, even if your flight is cancelled later.  This includes, for example, additional hotel accommodation or the price difference between an alternative transportation and your flight ticket. 

If you want to cancel your booking

If changing travel dates is not an option for you, you can cancel your booking and apply for a refund for an unused ticket. Travel extras will be refunded automatically once you have submitted the refund application. You can cancel your entire journey and apply for a refund in Manage booking. If you plan to use some of the flights on your booking, you can apply for a partial refund by contacting our customer service.  

Due to the effects of the political strike, we are getting more refund requests than normal. Our refund handling time is, on average, 2-4 weeks. We are sorry for the extended processing time and any inconvenience this may cause you. 

If you booked your ticket through a travel agency or a tour operator, please contact them to apply for a refund, as Finnair customer service is unable to proceed with your refund request on their behalf. 

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, as Finnair customer service is unable to proceed with your refund request on their behalf. 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 app. We are sorry that our customer service is currently congested.

You can check your passenger rights here. Please note that if your flight is cancelled due to political industrial action, Finnair is not obliged to EU compensation.