A political strike announced by several employee unions against the Finnish Government is expected to impact the Helsinki Airport’s operations.

For this reason, Finnair is expected to cancel around 550 flights scheduled on February 1 and 2, when the strike dates have been announced, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

We expect to cancel approximately 550 flights between February 1 and 2 due to the political strike in Finland. We’ll process the cancellations one flight at a time on Tuesday and Wednesday with customers offered alternative routings. We aim to operate a handful of flights during the strike.

During this time, the Finish Airline plans to operate around 280 flights per day in its normal traffic programme, so the majority of flights will be cancelled, and only a few can be operated.

According to a press release by Finnair, flight cancellations in its systems will be implemented one flight at a time, starting from Tuesday morning (January 30), while offering customers alternative travelling schedules or routes.

We have already given customers the opportunity to change their travel dates on Finnair flights. From January 30 onwards, we will start rerouting customers also using other airlines’ flights. 

In addition, the company announced that during the strike, ground services, including baggage loading and flight service, can be affected, so more flights can be delayed.

Processing the cancellations and rerouting customers will take approximately two days due to the large number of cancelled flights and customers.

Almost two weeks prior to the strike, Finnair has already offered its customers the possibility to reschedule their flights for other days, before or after February 1 and 2,  but no later than March 15, 2024.

The strike will also impact the metro, trams and local trains in the Helsinki Metropolitan Region, as well as rail workers on shifts scheduled for Friday, February 2. However, the union noted that sleeper trains to and from northern Finland would not be affected by the political strike.

The changes pushed by the Government benefit only the employers. It’s a reflection of the Government Programme, mirroring the election goals of EK and other employer organisations. The Government’s approach of dictating rather than negotiating has led to these extensive strikes. 

The strike, which is turning into a nationwide strike as more public sectors are joining, is part of the central organisation SAK’s “Serious Grounds” campaign, opposing the government’s policy, which is deemed unfair.

JHL has been organising political strikes since the autumn of 2023, which have gradually escalated, and the most recent one is no exception.