From Iceland — Icelandair Cancels 26 Flights In Anticipation Of Pilot Strike

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Maarten Visser

In anticipation of a strike held by the Association of Icelandic Pilots, Icelandair has announced the cancellation of 26 flights scheduled to fly to and from Keflavík International Airport tomorrow, May 9.

The strike is scheduled to run from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. “Even though negotiations are still ongoing,” read the travel alert on Icelandair’s website, “we need to act now to prevent the confusion that would occur on Friday in a strike situation.” 4,500 passengers will be affected by the cancellations, and should have received email or phone notifications directly from the airline. Passengers can contact their travel agent or Icelandair directlyto arrange for full refunds on their flight tickets or to re-book on later flights.

In addition to the cancelled flights, passengers traveling to Copenhagen, Oslo, Denver, Seattle, Orlando, Edmonton, Toronto, Boston and New York can expect delays of two to five hour flight delays. Departures are expected to begin around 19:30, with check-in starting early afternoon.

Tomorrow’s pilot strike is occurring in the wake of two recent strikes held by employees of ISAVIA, the company which owns and manages Iceland’s airports. In that case, a three year collective bargaining agreement was reached with the employees just before the third strike was scheduled to begin.

The full list of tomorrow’s cancellations is as follows:

204     07:45 Keflavík-Copenhagen

205     14.00 Copenhagen- Keflavík

318     07:50 Keflavík- Oslo

319     14:45 Oslo – Keflavík

306     07:35 Keflavík – Stockholm

307     14:20 Stockholm – Keflavík

342     07:30 Keflavík – Helsinki

343     15:30 Helsinki – Keflavík

272     08:00 Keflavík – Billund

273     14:40 Billund – Keflavík

430     07:35 Keflavík – Glasgow

431     14:05 Glasgow – Keflavík

440     08:00 Keflavík – Manchester

441     13:25 Manchester – Keflavík

450     07:40 Keflavík – London Heathrow

451     13.00 London Heathrow – Keflavík

470     07:45 Keflavík – London Gatwick

471     13:10 London Gatwick – Keflavík

542     07:40 Keflavík – Paris

543     14:10 Paris – Keflavík

520     07:25 Keflavík – Frankfurt

521     14:00 Frankfurt – Keflavík

502     07:70 Keflavík – Amsterdam

503     14:00 Amsterdam – Keflavík

454     16:10 Keflavík – London Heathrow

455     21:10 London Heathrow – Keflavík