Between March 11 and 24, 2024, several trade unions in Finland are on strike which, among other things, affects fuel distribution in the country. While the strikes are not directly related to Finnair, they are resulting in Finnair’s long-haul flights including those to Japan having to make refueling stops on the way to their final destination.
All Finnair flights to the country including AY61 to Tokyo Haneda (daily), AY73 to Tokyo Narita (5x week), and AY67 to Osaka Kansai (3x week) are affected. Flights in the direction to Finland are unaffected as they refuel in Japan.
On the first day of the strike, March 11, 2024, the affected flights made a technical stop at Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden. Since then they have been refueling in Riga, Latvia.
The strike adds travel time to the already long flight times caused by the geopolitical situation in Ukraine and the related inability to overfly Russia.