Helsinki Airport is likely to face a shortage of aviation fuel by the beginning of next week, if political strikes by logistics workers continue for the planned two-week period.
"Normally, there would be enough aviation fuel in airport tanks for up to five days, but if airlines start refuelling abroad, there could be enough for one week," Jarmo Haro, Chief Operating Officer at Shell Aviation, told Yle.
Finnish firm Neste, which also supplies aviation fuel, said it expects the strike will have an impact on its distribution channels.
"Despite the precautionary measures we have taken, we are unfortunately unable to guarantee uninterrupted deliveries," a Neste spokesperson said.
Airlines flying into Finland have been instructed to fill up their planes with the fuel they need for the return journey while the strike is ongoing, as a means of preserving fuel stocks in Finland.
"For aircraft coming from the Mediterranean region, the flight distance is so long that they cannot fill up with enough fuel for the entire return journey. They will then have to make a technical stopover en route," Haro said, noting that the easiest options to do this would be Hamburg, Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm.
These technical stopovers will however increase the cost and duration of flights, and it is possible that some airlines will cancel flights to Finland, especially during the second week of the strike.
In a statement, Finnair said its long-haul aircraft will start making stopovers at airports in northern Europe for refuelling as they return to Helsinki Airport. Flights from destinations within Europe will also be refuelled before returning to Finland.
Authorities in Finnish Lapland meanwhile said the two-week strike will have less impact on air traffic in the region compared to elsewhere in the country.
"We transport aviation fuel from Luleå [in Sweden] to northern airports in Ivalo, Kittilä, Rovaniemi and Oulu," Pontus Stenberg of the logistics company Simeon Group told Yle, adding that the firm expects there to be no disruptions to flights to Lapland throughout the duration of the strike.
In this FAQ, Yle News answers some of the questions surrounding the widespread strikes that started in Finland on Monday.
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