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Finnair has announced another mass cancellation of flights due to strikes, this time coinciding with the May Day bank holiday weekend, following a string of similar cancellations in the past six months.
The Finland flag carrier airline announced on Wednesday 30 April that will cancel approximately 140 flights due to industrial action in the country on Friday 2 May.
The Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) said it would be carrying out industrial action, which Finnair says will to cause “extensive disruptions to air traffic.”
The strike action will be four hours long and will take place in different shifts, so Finnair has warned that this action will not be tied to a specific time but will affect many functions essential for flights.
The airline said the action will disrupt aircraft maintenance, ground handling operations and catering services.
As a result, Finnair says its Friday cancellations will affect around 12,000 Finnair customers, but added it will offer them an alternative flight, which will appear in the ‘Manage booking service’ section on their website or app.
The airline said customers whose flight is cancelled due to the industrial action will be notified.
It warned that due to the high number of cancellations, rerouting all customers may take time, and some could be forced to wait a while for their new route.
The alternative routes can also be changed within the limits of flight availability if the customer so chooses, or they can cancel their reservation and apply for a refund if the ticket is unused.
It is also expected that baggage handling will be affected by the industrial action at Helsinki Airport on Friday, so Finnair is advising customers to check-in in advance, arrive on time at the airport and carry essentials such as medicines in hand luggage.
Jaakko Schildt, chief operating officer at Finnair, said: "It is unreasonable that 12,000 of our customers have to change their travel plans during the May Day weekend due to industrial action.
“We hoped until the end that industrial action could have been avoided. We are sorry for the situation and will do everything we can to ensure that every customer receives a suitable new routing as soon as possible."
Finnair says the IAU has also announced similar industrial action on Monday 5 May but the airline is still assessing how large the disruption will be.
Finnair recently cancelled 70 flights in late March due to union strikes that lasted two hours.
Before that, the airline said it would cancel almost 300 flights two weeks before Christmas as pilots went on strike, affecting approximately 33,000 customers.
The Independent has contacted the IAU for comment.
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