A nationwide demonstration organised by employee unions against government cuts to Sunday pay supplements, sick leave benefits and holiday pay will also affect workers in the Finnish air travel industry and will affect "thousands of travelers," national airline Finnair said in a statement.
What appears to be certain is that there will be no air traffic from Finnish airports between the hours of 11 am and 1 pm on Friday. According to evening tabloid Iltalehti, some 13 Finnair flights will be cancelled due to the strike.
Cabin crew members of the Finnish Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (SLJY) and the Finnish Aviation Union have announced that they will be on strike for two hours from 11am to 1pm.
Delays could last days
Finnair said that passengers should expect delays that could last into the weekend.
Fridays are Finnair’s busiest day of the week. The company said that the strike would disrupt customer service, baggage handling and various airline-related services.
The company responsible for maintaining 25 airports and air navigation system in Finland, Finnavia, recommends travellers to check with specific airlines, travel agents or the Finnavia website for flight information.
Getting to the airport could be difficult in itself as public transport, including local and long-distance buses, trams and possibly the Helsinki metro will effectively be shut down for the entire day starting at 11 am at latest. Local and long-distance trains will not operate between 6 am and 6 pm.
Taxis are reported to be working as usual on Friday. But as of Monday evening, more taxi ride pre-orders than usual had already come in, according to the Finnish Taxi Owners Federation.
