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Changes in Finnair traffic plan for winter 2023-2024

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We have made updates to our traffic program for winter 2023-2024.

Most of the updates are schedule and frequency changes for our destinations in Europe. The most significant changes are

  • Stockholm Bromma (BMA) route resumption​​​​​​​ (11x weekly service)
  • Hamburg (HAM) and Prague (PRG) frequency additions (3-4x weekly additions on each route)
  • Rovaniemi (RVN), Kittilä (KTT), Ivalo (IVL) seasonal additions (2-4x weekly frequency additions on each route during high demand periods December 2023, New Year, February - March 2024)
  • Flights to Alicante will be terminated in December
  • Day of week swaps and/or bigger schedule changes on Gazipasa (GZP), Larnaca (LCA), Lanzarote (ACE) Dublin (DUB), Manchester (MAN)
  • Update 06Jun23: Mumbai (BOM) route will be suspended for period 01AUG23-30MAR24. Detailed information for this can be found in a separate article behind this link

All the schedule changes and cancellations are expected to be processed to the PNRs by 9 May 2023 and customers are expected to be notified by 12 May 2023. After a PNR is processed, you will be able to see the suggested alternative flight for the affected passenger(s).

Finnair has proposed a new connection to the customer and automatically updated 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. 

Affected season 

Winter 2023-2024 (29OCT23 – 30MAR24)  

Rules apply to 

Ticketed booking only 

  • For unticketed bookings: no reaccommodation is given; please book new flight(s) and reprice with a new fare, new fare's fare rules apply. 

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 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. 

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. 

The flight is cancelled and the destination will not be operated at all  

Rerouting only to another AY flight (or AJB partner's flight if destination is in North America) or full/partial refund, no rebooking to other destination or to other airline is allowed. 
 
Process refund directly in your own GDS or if that is not possible, process refund via BSP/ARC. 

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. 
 
In case the customer does not accept the proposed new connection, the only option is to try to postpone the travel to a later date or to cancel the booking for full refund. 
 
Rerouting to other airlines is not allowed except for 

  • flights to/from North America (see instructions in the next section) 

  • 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. 

 

Flights to/from North America (Atlantic joint business routes – US, CA, MX) 

Rerouting via Helsinki on Finnair's direct flights to JFK/DFW/LAX/MIA preferred, rerouting to another Atlantic Joint Business carrier (AA/AY/BA/IB) also allowed. 

Tour operator fares: 

These same rules apply also to individual tour operator bookings using TO fares, but they do not apply to Aurinkomatkat or other tour operators’ customers. 

Group bookings 

Non-ticketed group bookings: rebooking only on original route for alternative travel dates, no rebooking for other airlines allowed. If flight is cancelled and no alternative option is available, but deposit is already paid, full deposit refund is allowed (even if only one flight in the itinerary has been cancelled). 
 
For ticketed group bookings: rebooking/rerouting for alternative flights. Full refund permitted even if only one flight in the itinerary has been cancelled and no alternative option is available. 

Waiver code 

Separate waiver code is not needed; the SSR INVOL element in the booking acts as your waiver. 

Please follow the instructions on this page, you do not have to call us for extra authorization if you need to rebook customer to another date or if customer asks for a refund. 

OS element 

If you rebook or cancel, the following OS element must be entered in the booking. 

  • in case the customer wishes to rebook to another date/flight: 
    OS AY CHANGE DUE TO W23 SCHED CHG 

  • in case the customer asks for refund: 
    OS AY REFUND DUE TO W23 SCHED CHG  

Remember when you reissue; 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. 

Ancillaries: 

Due to the schedule/flight change, unfortunately we might not be able to confirm some of the pre-purchased or pre-booked travel extras such as meals or pet transportation to the new flights. Check the PNR and if ancillary SSR is returned as UN, process the EMD refund via BSPlink refund application. Note that for EMDs only display access is allowed.  

Voluntary changes 

For any voluntary changes or cancellations, ticketed fare rules apply. 

If customer has purchased ancillaries, please follow the normal EMD change procedure to change the ancillaries to the new flights.  

Note 

We expect the changes in PNRs to be ready by 9 May 2023. Our agent info and customer care telephone lines can be busy in the coming days. We apologize for the long waiting time.