Finnair Easy News

6 March 2025

Changes in Finnair traffic plan for winter 2025-2026

Operational news

Latest update: Additional changes to our winter 2025-2026 traffic program will be published on 5 March 2025.

We have updated our traffic plan for the winter season on 26 October 2025 – 28 March 2026. The changes include equipment and schedule changes. We are sorry about the harm and inconvenience these changes may cause to customers’ travel plans.

All the schedule changes and cancellations are expected to be processed and customers notified on the publication day. After a PNR is processed, you will be able to see the suggested alternative flight for the affected passenger(s).

Finnair will propose a new connection to the customer and automatically update the ticket.

In case the new schedule is not suitable for the customer, the SSR OTHS INVOL element in the booking permits one further free involuntary change and/or cancellation as per the below guidelines.

For bookings made via NDC: same policy applies and for booking handling contact our Agent Help Desk by clicking on the chat icon at the bottom right corner of the page (select NDC Support) for the change or cancellation.

Affected season	Winter season 2025-2026
Travel dates impacted	26OCT25-28MAR26
If there is a schedule change	Finnair will automatically update the new flight details to the reservation and update the ticket. If the customer does not accept the change, you can rebook to another date, preferably -2/+7 days from the original flight date but if requested by customer, -7/+14 days is acceptable. Itinerary including AY flights only: rebook to same destination only, rebook to original booking class or lowest available in same cabin, no rerouting to other carriers allowed. Itinerary including AY flights and flights operated by another airline (OAL): rebook to same destination only, rebook OAL flights to original booking class on original route and AY to original RBD or lowest available in same cabin. No rerouting to other carriers allowed. In both cases ticket must be updated as involuntary reissue using S indicator in front of the fare calculation on the reissued ticket (S indicator referring to commercial change taking place more than 2 days before departure). SKCHG must be added in the endorsement. cancel and refund the ticket directly in your own GDS or if that is not possible, process refund via BSP/ARC (refund of ancillary services on EMDs to be processed via BSPlink refund application) If you are using Amadeus or Travelport (Galileo, Apollo and Worldspan) you are able to display and further perform reissue/exchange even after Finnair has reissued the original document.
If the original flight is cancelled but a new flight/date is suggested for customers	Finnair will automatically book a new flight/flights to the reservation and update the ticket. If the customer does not accept the change, you can rebook to a later date, rebook to another date, preferably -2/+7 days from the original flight date but if requested by customer, -7/+14 days is acceptable. Itinerary including AY flights only: rebook to same destination only, rebook to original booking class or lowest available in same cabin, no rerouting to other carriers allowed. Itinerary including AY flights and flights operated by another airline (OAL): rebook to same destination only, rebook OAL flights to original booking class on original route and AY to original RBD or lowest available in same cabin. No rerouting to other carriers allowed. In both cases ticket must be updated as involuntary reissue using S indicator in front of the fare calculation on the reissued ticket (S indicator referring to commercial change taking place more than 2 days before departure). SKCHG must be added in the endorsement. cancel and refund the ticket directly in your own GDS or if that is not possible, process refund via BSP/ARC (refund of ancillary services on EMDs to be processed via BSPlink refund application) If you are using Amadeus or Travelport (Galileo, Apollo and Worldspan) you are able to display and further perform reissue/exchange even after Finnair has reissued the original document.
Mandatory waiver text in OSI element	OS AY CHANGE DUE TO W2526 SCHED CHG OS AY REFUND DUE TO W2526 SCHED CHG
Mandatory indicator in front of fare calculation on the reissued ticket	‘S’ -indicator
Mandatory text in the endorsement	SKCHG to be used for involuntary changes when there is more than 2 days before departure (together with ‘S’ indicator in the fare calculation)
Changing bookings made via NDC	The same change policy applies. For booking handling, in case not possible in the booking tool, contact our Agent Help Desk by clicking on the chat icon at the bottom right corner of the page (select NDC Support) for the change.
Refunds for bookings made via NDC	Before requesting refund, the booking must be cancelled. 1) If the flight is not cancelled by AY, contact Agent Help Desk and request the cancellation of the booking. Proceed with the refund request via BSP/ARC. 2) If the flight is cancelled by AY, booking can be cancelled using Manage booking on Finnair.com or by contacting Agent Help Desk. Apply for refund via BSPlink Refund Application. ARC-agents, see more information about refunds on general Refunds-instructions.
Refunds for bookings made via Edifact	Cancel the booking/remaining segments and refund the ticket directly in your own GDS. If that is not possible, apply for refund via BSPlink Refund Application. ARC-agents, see more information about refunds on general Refunds-instructions.
Bookings with connecting flights not in sync with new schedule	We have tried to keep all the connections which are on the same ticket but there might be cases where it is not possible to offer a smooth connection with the changed schedule; postpone the travel to a later flight/date in original booking class or cancel the booking for a full refund, rerouting to other airline is not allowed Rerouting to other airlines is not allowed except for flights to/from Australia, where rebooking of the connecting flight within IATA Area 3 (Asia/Australia) is allowed between BA/CX/QF/JQ/JL but the long-haul flight between Helsinki and Area 3 must remain on Finnair.
Ancillaries	The above-mentioned change policy applies also to ancillaries for the one free change. In most cases the service will be automatically transferred to the new flight at the time of ticket revalidation/reissue. Otherwise, please re-associate the EMD and SSR manually or contact our Agent Help Desk. Refund allowed only in case a similar ancillary service is not available on the new flight. Process EMD refunds via BSPlink refund application (ARC users: apply for refund via Refund Web-form and mention “ARC Agent” in the additional information box)
Groups	If tickets have been issued, Finnair will re-route to alternative services If tickets have not yet been issued, Finnair will rebook on alternative Finnair operated flights. In case an alternative option is not available and therefore offered, please contact Finnair Group Sales Support for further information
Important information	Full instructions for involuntary changes are available here. “Finnair (AY) only” also includes those flights which are operated by NoRRA or by Iberia for Finnair/Widerøe for Finnair These same rules apply also to individual bookings with TO fares. Adhering to this policy is the user’s responsibility. Finnair reserves the right to change or withdraw these guidelines at any time.

Passenger rights can be checked here.

More information about the customer communication at finnair.com.