Finnish controllers stage protest, ground flights
15 January 2008Holidaymakers in Finland were relying on their travel insurance to cover flight delays after air traffic controllers staged a protest over labour disputes.
The controllers abandoned their posts in Helsinki, leading to delays for 20 flights to and from Finland, the Associated Press reports.
During the two-hour action, the airport workers guided arriving aircraft but prevented departing planes from leaving by refusing to give them clearance to take off.
As a result, the delays to some services were expected to last several hours, aviation officials said.
Finnair, the country's national carrier, said that it would postpone some flights to destinations across Europe, while several others would be delayed by up to two hours.
Finavia, the air traffic controllers' employer, said the walkout was in breach of a "civil service collective agreement" and accused the workers of breaking the law.
The dispute is thought to relate to pay and bonuses.