Nordic carrier Finnair?on Wednesday reported a 76.4 per cent decline in second-quarter profits following a series of recent labour strikes in Finland.

Quarterly revenue increased by 2.8 per cent to €787.7 million compared to the same period the previous year. However, extended industrial action from April to June led to a ¡°considerable¡± dip in profits, which decreased to €10.3 million from €43.6 million in 2024.

¡°Our comparable operating result was particularly burdened by industrial action by the Finnish Airline Pilots¡¯ Association in April and by the ground service personnel¡¯s Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) in May and June,¡± Finnair CEO, Turkka Kuusisto, said in a statement.

¡°We had to cancel over 1,300 flights during the quarter due to the industrial action, incurring costs related to customer rerouting and care, as well as compensation for delays¡­The uncertainty caused by the disruptions also affected demand for our flights and customer satisfaction,¡± he added.

The carrier said it has since reached collective labour agreements with the Finnish Pilots¡¯ Association and IAU, ¡°so we are once again able to operate our flights with the reliability that is expected of us¡±.

Despite the disruption, Finnair said it operated 94 per cent of scheduled flights in Q2, while passenger load factor increased 1.9 percentage points to 76.6 per cent. Available seat kilometres for the quarter also increased 4.2 per cent to 10.2 billion kilometres.

The carrier¡¯s guidance for the second half of 2025 remains unchanged, however its estimated year-on-year profit growth range of between €100 and €200 million is now expected to ¡°be closer to the lower end¡± due to weaker-than-expected demand in North Atlantic traffic and the indirect effects of industrial action on demand, the carrier said.

As well as the direct negative impact of industrial action in Q2, the carrier said profitability for 2025 is ¡°further burdened¡± by additional costs associated with the EU¡¯s SAF blending mandate ¨C which it referred to as an ¡°obligation¡± ¨C along with rising navigation and landing charges.

Additionally, Finnair warned against the impact of geopolitical political instability and ¡°the threat of trade wars¡± on future demand.

¡°The direct cost impact of tariffs that will enter into force after the second quarter is estimated to be limited. It is too early to estimate the magnitude of potential indirect effects,¡± the carrier said.