Helsinki Airport was unusually quiet on Friday morning, due to a new strike by Finnair pilots forcing the airline to cancel around 150 flights.
Friday's strike action was the second this week, after pilots walked out for a one day strike on Monday.
On Wednesday the Finnish Air Line Pilots' Association (SLL) rejected a settlement proposal by the national labour conciliator in the dispute between Finnair and the pilots.
After reaching the impasse, the SLL also called for a pilots' standby ban on Thursday, which meant that pilots would not be permitted to be on standby duty to fill in for other pilots' shifts, in cases of illness, for example.
That ban further increased the number of cancellations on Friday, according to the airline.
One-third of flights cancelled
In a press release, Finnair said it was contacting affected passengers via SMS or email and advised the travellers to check their bookings online.
Additionally, the airline said it was offering hotel accommodation to affected passengers, if their itineraries were disrupted at Helsinki, Oulu, Tallinn, Stockholm Arlanda, Copenhagen, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf or Doha Airport.
However, even if a passenger's original flight was cancelled, they may still be able to book seats on other flights. National airport operator Finavia expected around 290 flights arriving or departing at Helsinki Airport on Friday. Normally, the airport handles around 450 flights on Fridays.
SLL and Finnair have been negotiating a new collective agreement since August. The pilots are demanding salary increases and improvements to their supplementary pension system.
Members of the pilot's union and the service sector employers' group Palta were scheduled to meet for further negotiations on Friday.
The national conciliator, Anu Sajavaara, said on Wednesday that many issues on the negotiation table still needed to be addressed.
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