* Cabin crews start strike at 1100 GMT
* Strike to cost 2.0-2.5 million euros per day
* Finnair shares down 4.5 percent, SAS down 2.2 percent
* Carrier looking at ways to restructure
(Adds start of strike, new cancellations, restructuring)
By Terhi Kinnunen and Jussi Rosendahl
HELSINKI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The cabin crew at Finnair launched a crippling strike on Tuesday, prompting Finland's flag carrier to cancel more than 300 flights and warn it would post another loss this year.
Finnair shares were down 4.5 percent by 1245 GMT, having recovered from a 6.5 percent fall to a two-month low earlier ine session. Shares in Nordic carrier SAS, whose Blue1 unit would also be affected, lost 2.2 percent.
Some 1,800 of Finnair's and Blue1 cabin crew employees started a strike at 1100 GMT after last ditch talks over a new wage deal collapsed overnight.
Finnair called off more than 110 flights on Tuesday, affecting 6,000 passengers and another 200 for Wednesday, involving another 10,000 fliers.
An increasing number of passengers was stuck at the Helsinki airport, one of Europe's top connections to Asia and Russia.
"We expect to wait here for eight hours," said Ivan Bulems, flying with the RSC Anderlecht soccer team from Brussels for a match with with Zenit St. Peterburg on Wednesday.
"We will get there, but the problem is that we have training today at 5 pm," he said.
Finnair said it would lose 2-2.5 million euros ($2.6-$3.3 million) for each day of the work stoppage and now expected a full-year operating loss. It previously expected to be in the black on the operating level in the fourth quarter and in all of 2010, compared with a 171 million euro loss in 2009.
Analysts cautioned the profit warning indicated Finnair was expecting the dispute with its flight attendants could last for for an extended period, with most of its planes grounded.
PRESSURE TACTIC
"The profit warning seems to be a way to pressure the opponent for an agreement," said Nordea Bank analyst Pasi Vaisanen. "If Finnair gives up here, it would be more difficult to make a good agreement with its pilots next year, which is crucial for the company's competitiveness."
The cabin crew union SLSY and employer representatives negotiated with Finnish state mediator Esa Lonka until the early hours on Tuesday, but the parties could not agree on terms such as recovery days after long-distance flights.
The last wage deal expired in April.
The parties are now waiting for a call from state mediator to attend new talks.
"There has been no invitation (for new talks)," said Thelma Akers, the head of SLSY cabin crew union.
Finnair, whose mechanics held a one-day strike last month, is one of several European airlines facing strike threats.
On Monday, British Airways cabin crew union said it would ballot on whether to hold further strikes in a long-running dispute which has already cost the carrier 150 million pounds ($234 million).
The BA cabin crew announcement came on the same day that shareholders in BA and Spanish peer Iberia voted to merge the two airlines.
Finnair Chief Executive Mika Vehvilainen told reporters the airline was looking at ways to restructure its operations, which would affect both its operations and jobs. He declined to elaborate.
"We're no longer talking about working conditions but jobs," he said.
SAS's Blue1, which also employs members of the SLSY union, said it aimed to fly 60-70 percent of flights during the strike. (Additional reporting by Igor Kim, Editing by Dan Lalor and Louise Heavens) ($1 = 0.7606 euro)