HELSINKI, Nov 30 – Finland\’s national carrier Finnair cancelled more than 100 domestic and international flights Tuesday due to an impending strike by cabin crew personnel.
The strike by the Finnish Cabin Crew Union is set to begin at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT), after last-minute negotiations with state labour mediator Esa Lonka were called off at around 2:30 am Tuesday.
"Our priority is to fly to main destinations like Stockholm, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen and Dusseldorf," Finnair spokeswoman Hanna-Kaisa Nurmi told AFP, adding that holiday charter flights will also most likely be flying as normal.
Flights to Saint Petersburg, New York, London, Bangkok and Tallin were among those that had already been cancelled.
Nurmi said it looked like the airline would have to cancel around the same number of flights on Wednesday as well.
"It really depends on the negotiations," she said.
SAS\’s Finnish subsidiary airline Blue 1 will also be affected by the strike, but aims to operate 60 to 70 percent of its flights, the company said.
Negotiators for the union have said that the major obstacles to making a deal are unresolved issues of how to arrange night shifts and days off.
