Strange seat issue leads European airline to cancel flights with 10,000 impacted
Finnair has had to cancel a number of flights this week after safety concerns were raised about how its seat covers were cleaned, a spokesperson for the airport has said
An unusual maintenance issue has led a major airline to cancel the flights of as many as 10,000 passengers.
One of Europe’s largest airlines, Finnair, which carries over 11 million passengers a year, was this week forced to ground dozens of scheduled flights due to what’s been described as a ‘freak’ maintenance issue, affecting seats on its aircraft.
On Monday and Tuesday the airline cancelled 40 services, with a further 18 more services grounded on Wednesday and Thursday, according to FlightAware. Four flights, including the airline’s morning service from Heathrow to Helsinki have been cancelled on Friday 17 October.
Air passenger rights expert, Anton Radchenko, CEO of AirAdvisor, explained: “Based on what we know, a number of Airbus A321s, which play a key role in Finnair’s fleet, required inspection and were taken out of service, due to seat covers on the aircraft not being cleaned according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
“It seems to be one of those freak maintenance mishaps that sometimes affect airlines and unfortunately in this case, thousands of their passengers too."
A spokesperson for Finnair confirmed the reason for the cancellation. They said: “The reason for the suspension is information received from the seat cover manufacturer indicating that the impact of the seat cover cleaning method (water washing) on fire protection has not been properly verified. Safety is always our top priority, and we always follow the manufacturers’ maintenance instructions as well as the guidelines and recommendations of the authorities.
“Due to the situation, we have cancelled several flights between 13 and 17 October 2025. Going forward, we will need to make some daily aircraft type changes to minimise the number of cancellations. These aircraft changes will likely lead to overbookings. Flight cancellations, delays or changes in the operating airline may also occur.”
If you are one of the unlucky passengers whose flights have been cancelled this week, you may be able to claim compensation.
“From a compensation perspective under UK and EU law (regulations UK261 and EU261), passengers whose flights were cancelled as a result of this operational error, which the courts may deem as within an airline’s control, could be due up to £520 in compensation for the inconvenience caused," Mr Radchenko continued.
"It remains to be seen how Finnair will frame the cause of the cancellations, but the issue appears to have originated from a maintenance procedure rather than a regulatory safety order. If your flight is delayed by over two hours, airlines should offer affected passengers free food and drink vouchers to make the delay more comfortable. Equally, if your flight is moved to the following day, you can seek overnight accommodation from your airline.
If your flight is cancelled, you can request a full refund to the cost of your ticket or request a seat on another flight from your airline. This new seat could be on a different airline’s service or to/from another airport.
You may also be entitled to compensation of up to £520, depending on flight distance and delay, unless Finnair informed you of the cancellation at least 14 days before departure. You can check Finnair’s delay and cancellation policies and your compensation eligibility instantly.
“Fortunately, major airlines do take the safety of their passengers extremely seriously and Finnair should be commended for taking the required steps as swiftly as possible," Mr Radchenko added.