Thousands of passengers face disruption with flights to be cancelled
Thousands of passengers face disruption with flights to be cancelled
There will be delays on Friday and Monday
A queue of passengers waiting at the boarding gate
Finnair has warned that industrial action by the Finnish Aviation Union on Friday this week, May 16, will result in it cancelling around 60 flights on that day, affecting around 6,000 customers The airline has promised to offer alternative travel options for passengers whose flights might be cancelled.
Finnair has also warned that further strikes planned for Monday May 19 could affect more flights, though it says it is still assessing the potential impact of any strikes on that day. On Monday May 19, the destinations with the most significant number of Finnair departures from Helsinki include London Heathrow Airport with six planned departures on that day.
In addition to London Heathrow, Finnair also flies to and from Manchester and Edinburgh. When there were two similar strikes on May 2 and 5, Finnair ended up cancelling between a third and a half of flights scheduled for those days.
Darina Kovacheva, Head of Legal at airline compensation specialists SkyRefund, said: "The EC 261/2004 regulation on air passenger rights remains applicable during strikes. Airlines must rebook affected passengers to their final destination at the earliest opportunity and offer Duty of Care, such as accommodation and meals, in the event of long delays.
"If a flight is cancelled or heavily delayed, passengers may choose to request a refund instead. However, compensation for delays is not owed if the strike involves workers who are not directly employed by the airline.
Article continues below
"If the strike directly involves Finnair employees, if you present yourself on time for check-in with a valid flight reservation and travel documents, and you are denied boarding you might be entitled to € 250 if the distance you are travelling is 1,500 km or less; € 400 for flights of more than 1,500 km within the European Common Aviation Area and all others between 1,500 and 3,500 km, with all other flights of more than 3,500 km eligible for € 600 compensation.
"But the airline you are travelling on is affected but its staff are not striking, and you are still affected, you will not be eligible for financial compensation as the delay or cancellation has been caused by "extraordinary circumstances". But we still advise you to keep receipts for any expenses you incur during the delay."
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