Finnair has been caught out it seems by Heathrow Airport’s capping scheme, with the airline limiting its operations, with some cancellations, as well as a halt on bookings to Heathrow.
Finnair Airbus A350-900 at Heathrow Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
In a statement, the airline said:
Finnair, among other airlines, under the threat of legal action from London Heathrow Airport, is required to limit the number of customers departing from Heathrow Airport due to heavy congestion at peak times. Finnair is unfortunately forced to reduce flight capacity on 15-24 July and cancel some of our customers’ bookings on London-Helsinki flights on 20-24 July. Also, due to limitations set by London Heathrow Airport, new London-Helsinki flights until 11 September 2022 cannot be booked currently.
We are very sorry for the inconvenience and harm this situation may cause you. We are updating any new information on this page.
Impact
If your reservation is impacted, Finnair will let you know via SMS and/or e-mail. They advise updating your details in the Manage My Booking tool as needed
If you are impacted, there are some options, with re-routing to your final destination (although as the airline says that the availability of alternative flights is currently very limited. Information will be in Manage My Booking.
In case you don’t find a suitable alternative flight in Manage booking, you can contact Finnair’s customer service or your travel agency.
You can apply online for a refund for your unused flight ticket.
If you want to travel but we were unable to offer you an alternative flight, you will need to contact Finnair customer service
It Messy. And that’s just the airport.
It seems that the writing from Heathrow has gotten a lot nastier, with the airport now throwing legal teams to ensure that airlines comply with the new passenger capacity constraints – with the airport asking airlines not to sell tickets until 11th September.
With the airport getting nasty, it seems Finnair could do what it could do. Whereas Emirates got an agreement, Finnair has gone “fine then”.
How other airlines will impact due to this passenger cap is still to be shaken out – however, it is one quick way to for an airport to annoy a customer.
Customers that bring people through an airports duty-free and concessions area.
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