HELSINKI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A prolonged labor dispute significantly impacted the operating result of Finnish national carrier Finnair in the first half of 2025, according to the company's half-year financial report released on Wednesday.
Finnair reported a comparable operating loss of 52.3 million euros (60.55 million U.S. dollars) for the January-June period, marking a sharp reversal from the 32 million euros operating profit recorded during the same period last year.
"Industrial action had a direct negative impact of around 51 million euros on the comparable operating result," the airline stated in the report.
The dispute between the Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) and Palta, the Finnish Service Sector Employers' Association, began in January 2025. Over six months of stalled negotiations, Finnair was forced to cancel more than 1,300 flights due to strike actions. The cancellations affected approximately 100,000 passengers.
On July 13, the National Conciliator's Office of Finland announced that the dispute had ended after IAU and Palta reached a settlement. As a result, all planned future strikes were also cancelled.
Finnish media described the conflict as one of the longest industrial disputes in the country's aviation sector in recent years. The impact was especially pronounced in the second quarter of 2025, when Finnair's comparable operating result fell to 10.3 million euros, down from 43.6 million euros in the same quarter of 2024.
The airline said the industrial action caused a direct loss of about 29 million euros between April and June alone.
Following the financial report, Finnair's share price dropped nearly 9 percent when trading opened on the Helsinki Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
"Despite the disruptions caused by industrial action, our operational quality remained high, and we were able to operate 94 percent of our flights as planned," said Finnair CEO Turkka Kuusisto in the report.
Looking ahead, Finnair expects its full-year comparable operating result to be at the lower end of its forecast range, citing weaker-than-expected demand on North Atlantic routes, falling ticket prices, and the broader indirect impact of the labor unrest. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollar) ■
