Finnair A350 Business Class Revealed

Finnair A350 Business Class Revealed

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Finnair will be the European launch customer for the Airbus A350, and today revealed quite a bit of information about what we can expect.

Finnair will take A350 delivery second half of 2015

Finnair has 11 firm orders and eight options for the A350. They should begin taking delivery of them the second half of next year. The first destinations to see the A350 will be Shanghai, Bangkok, and Beijing. Then in 2016 they’ll add A350 service to Hong Kong and Singapore. Currently their only longhaul aircraft are the A330 and A340, so the A350 will eventually become the backbone of their fleet.

Finnair A350 will have reverse herringbone business class seats

Reverse herringbone seats are my favorite kind of business class hard product, so I’m happy to see they’ll offer them on the A350:

The 297-seat configuration includes 46 seats in Business Class in a 1+2+1 layout, ensuring direct aisle access to all Business Class passengers. The Zodiac Cirrus III seats convert to fully flat beds, while a 16-inch touch-screen inflight entertainment system comes programmed with films, TV shows, music and other digital content on demand in numerous languages. Seats in Business Class also come equipped with AC and USB power outlets.

Finnair-A350-Business-Class-1

Finnair-A350-Business-Class-2

For context, Finnair’s current “new” A330 business class product is a Vantage-style staggered seat, similar to what’s offered by Austrian, Brussels, Delta, Swiss, etc.

Finnair-Business-Class

Finnair A350 will have economy comfort seats

They’ll have nine slimline seats per row with 31″ of pitch, which I suppose is the industry norm. But they’ll also offer 43 economy comfort seats, featuring extra pitch:

The Economy Class cabin features comfortable Zodiac Z300 slim-line seats with a 31-inch seat pitch in a 3+3+3 layout. At the front of the Economy Class cabin are 43 Economy Comfort seats, with comfier headrests, high-quality headphones and four extra inches of leg room. All seats in Economy include an 11-inch touch screen inflight entertainment system and USB power outlets.

Finnair’s route network fascinates me

I really like Finnair and think their Helsinki Airport hub is hard to beat given how user friendly it is. At the same time, their route network just fascinates me. They serve one destination in the US year round, while they serve about a dozen destinations in Asia. And as you can see above, their first handful of routes featuring the A350 will be to Asia.

With European airlines we typically see a pretty good split between US and Asian destinations, so it’s always interesting to me to see Finnair have more Asia service by such a wide margin.

Bottom line

I’m hoping to finally fly Finnair business class soon, given that it’s one of the transatlantic airlines you can redeem American AAdvantage miles and US Airways Dividend Miles on without paying fuel surcharges.

If you’ve flown Finnair business class, what has your experience been?

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  1. Stephen Guest

    Flew the A350 last month BKK-HEL in C. Bright, wide-feel to the cabin with no central overhead lockers which really opens it up.
    Super-quiet cabin and even in turbulence, she gave a great ride.
    Food was so-so. Really, nothing special. But nice quality printed menus.
    Amenity kit - looked like something from IKEA and seriously under-whelming,
    Seats comfortable with duvet and cushion provided.
    Wi-fi is spotty but free for the...

    Flew the A350 last month BKK-HEL in C. Bright, wide-feel to the cabin with no central overhead lockers which really opens it up.
    Super-quiet cabin and even in turbulence, she gave a great ride.
    Food was so-so. Really, nothing special. But nice quality printed menus.
    Amenity kit - looked like something from IKEA and seriously under-whelming,
    Seats comfortable with duvet and cushion provided.
    Wi-fi is spotty but free for the duration of the flight if you're Emerald level with One World. That was fun talking to people on the ground live and even a FB Live broadcast worked.
    Seriously generous with the booze and very pleasant, happy and funny crew.
    The big failing - the power outlets for the entire C Cabin failed. Messages were sent to AY maintenance in HEL but no solution was found. Y had power but every seat was taken so i couldn't charge phones nor laptop. But the crew did their best to help with charging in the galley areas. I was assured by the cabin manager this was a first and I don't doubt that.
    All in all, a pleasant 10 hour flight.
    Looking forward to Malaysia Airlines - my usual carrier - introducing the A350 later this year.

  2. Ulev Member

    I flew AY In J last year.
    I chose the single seat, with a double in front...the opening between the two seats was very
    Similar to a coffin...the tapering
    Opening did not allow for any leg/foot Movement without hitting
    The sides and waking one up..
    I hope the new A350 product eliminates this discomforting option.. I fly AY to VNO which is a
    New rare jewel that is just beginning
    To be on tourist radar.

  3. Mark Guest

    Doug, Finnair will be back in MIA next winter, seasonal A340 service.

  4. Doug Guest

    I flew Finnair BKK-HEL-MAN in J and was really impressed with both their hard and soft product. This looks like even a step up from their already excellent staggered product. I do wish they served more destinations in the US (especially Miami as it is an AA hub) as I would put them in the top-tier of European airlines.

  5. Alex K Guest

    Just flew Finnair back to YYZ in June. It was on the old angled lie-flat, but the service and food were very good. I wasn't exactly looking forward to a starter of cauliflower soup with escargot but it was kind of awesome. Very friendly, attentive crew. Of course there were all of 10 people in business that day, but we really enjoyed the flight despite the seats.

  6. echino Diamond

    Are you sure US airways does not charge fuel surcharges on Finnair? I have read multiple reports that in fact they do, despite the fact their award chart only lists BA and IB as surchargeable airlines.

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ echino -- They're not supposed to, so if they do I would ask for a supervisor.

  7. Garrett Guest

    Let's start a petition to forbid airlines from installing grey(-ay) seats. I hate that. I HAAAAATE IT. That's exactly what one hopes to see in a premium experience...grey. Yuck. Black, white, purple, rainbow, denim...anything would be better.

  8. Aston Blofeld Guest

    I guess you can't get more neutral than 50 shades of grey. The seat and layout are certainly familiar but, at least in the mockups, I like the Finnair version. It is easy on the eyes. Long-haul seats color schemes on other carriers can be hard to handle (I'm looking at you Transaero, Malaysian, Thai).

  9. brendon Guest

    Lucky-- do yourself a favor and visit finland just for the sake of it. I am of finnish heritage (us-born) so much like you going to my roots there is time when I get to spend there......if you think that sunset in iceland is something just wait .... if you go north enough, the sun NEVER sets in summer!!

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ brendon -- I was in Helsinki last summer and enjoyed it, though hope to go back sometime to other parts!

  10. Mochi Guest

    Thanks for the heads up, Lucky!

    They also have the A340-300, and I'd bet that those are the first to go once the A350s arrive due to inefficiency.

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ Mochi -- Whoops, forgot about the A340. Good point!

  11. Joey Diamond

    I've flown Finnair JFK-HEL-CPH a few years ago since it was one of the few transatlantic airlines that didn't charge extra fees for having a bike case as luggage.

    Finnair used to fly to SFO, LAX, and even SEA (some seasonal) but all of those routes ended after Finnair joined oneworld. It may be similar to Malaysia Airlines ending its LAX route after it joined oneworld.

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Stephen Guest

Flew the A350 last month BKK-HEL in C. Bright, wide-feel to the cabin with no central overhead lockers which really opens it up. Super-quiet cabin and even in turbulence, she gave a great ride. Food was so-so. Really, nothing special. But nice quality printed menus. Amenity kit - looked like something from IKEA and seriously under-whelming, Seats comfortable with duvet and cushion provided. Wi-fi is spotty but free for the duration of the flight if you're Emerald level with One World. That was fun talking to people on the ground live and even a FB Live broadcast worked. Seriously generous with the booze and very pleasant, happy and funny crew. The big failing - the power outlets for the entire C Cabin failed. Messages were sent to AY maintenance in HEL but no solution was found. Y had power but every seat was taken so i couldn't charge phones nor laptop. But the crew did their best to help with charging in the galley areas. I was assured by the cabin manager this was a first and I don't doubt that. All in all, a pleasant 10 hour flight. Looking forward to Malaysia Airlines - my usual carrier - introducing the A350 later this year.

0
Ulev Member

I flew AY In J last year. I chose the single seat, with a double in front...the opening between the two seats was very Similar to a coffin...the tapering Opening did not allow for any leg/foot Movement without hitting The sides and waking one up.. I hope the new A350 product eliminates this discomforting option.. I fly AY to VNO which is a New rare jewel that is just beginning To be on tourist radar.

0
Mark Guest

Doug, Finnair will be back in MIA next winter, seasonal A340 service.

0
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