Finnair Adds Helsinki (HEL) To Seattle (SEA) Route (Award Seats Loaded)

I remember when I was in Finland, I spoke to a few Finnish people who said they would love to visit Alaska in the U.S. I imagine this route will help with some of that traffic

Any idea when this will show up on AA.com for award bookings? I'm going SEA-HEL on a Friday this summer and this would be perfect.

Ben, I am hoping you could include a Finnair longhaul flight in your travel plans in the near future. Their catering has gone downhill so fast that old reviews are practically useless. And some bad reviews would sure do us some good, as publicity might give Finnair an incentive to make some improvements.

On JFK-HEL, an 8-hour flight, they serve a cold chicken salad in business class after departure, with no options!

This is great news! I have lived in Seattle for over 30 years (born in Helsinki), and the last time there was a direct flight to Seattle was in the 80's. I will definitely take advantage of this opportunity.

Best way to book finnair biz on miles/points?

I've always used Alaska Mileage Plan, last minute, for J...far out, there's typically not a lot of availability in J, but closer in (within a week or two) it seems to open up.

This is exciting news, though the A330 is kind of a wet blanket...having flown both their A330 and the A350 BKK-HEL-JFK a number of times over the last few years, the latter is hands down more enjoyable. Even the throne seats on the A330 are a tight squeeze for my swimmer's build, 6'3" frame...that said, connecting through HEL has always been a breeze, in my experience.

I'm hoping they'll start service between Helsinki and New Haven. I'd really like seeing a routing of HVN-HEL.

A330s have air vents. A350s don't. Seems like a miss by the AY A350 design team.

And still no word on whether or not Finnair still flies to San Francisco...

(1) I believe that Finnair is retrofitting their A330s with the same reverse herringbone J seats that their A350s have, and adding premium economy, and I remember they said the retrofits will be complete in 2022. If that is indeed the case, that’s awesome! (Turkish Airlines, do you see this?)

(2) Additionally, this is a great development for Seattle! I bet connectivity from Alaska played a huge role in it. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Seattle have a significant Nordic diaspora that would benefit from this flight? Which probably contributes to Icelandair doing well there?

I have a feeling that HEL-SFO is gone, replaced by SEA. It is a sad thing, but whaddyagonnado?

Please be more thorough in your research. Finnair has run seasonal services for years to either YVR or SEA due to the large Scandinavian heritage in the region. VFR is actually one of the main drivers of the service!

Wow ... when they launched the DFW route, I suggested exactly this in this forum ... Seattle makes a lot of sense from an operational and marketing perspective. Seattle is relatively poorly served from Europe (the only OW service is BA, but also other alliances don't have a big offering) and the route is only marginally longer than via London, e.g. from VIE or WAW. The flight schedule published also offers good connectivity to European destinations, both ways.

This is the funniest comment I have seen in three years of reading this blog.

You must be mixing up airlines.

AY used to fly to SEA 1981-1989 with DC10s. YVR, never. YYZ a long time ago.

I got to fly Roundtrip on SAS on a Pratt Whitney powered attracted 1988/1989 built Boeing 767 383's in October of 1993 between Seattle and Berlin via the main hub in Copenhagen 8 hour flight relatively to the Scandinavian market it's good to see one of the carriers in Seattle FINNAIR again I miss Scandinavian airline system they were the best it's like they brought the country of Norway Sweden and Denmark inside those cabin not to mention the forker 50 turbo prop between Berlin templehoff and the SAS swede link..... I remember correctly the two ship names I was on they were prominent Norwegian Night lady's Sigrid Viking & Ulf Viking

Good to have another TATL flight out of SEA in the evening. I usually work at least until 4pm, that takes LH and DL off the table for me.

Interesting but not surprising given Icelandic's strength in the Pacific Northwest. Clearly, there's a market for US leisure travelers to the Nordic countries. I always think Finnair and SAS are two airlines generally overlooked by Americans, despite decent business-class products and good route networks.

FINNAIR is not Scandinavian you m*ron! Americans have no sense for geography, culture or gourmet food.

Yanks go home.

Take the time to read again the comment you’re criticizing so rudely. You’ll see that nowhere in the comments does Gary state that Finnair is from Scandinavia. He states that he misses the Scandinavian airline system and even states that it’s like they brought Norway, Sweden, and Denmark into the aircraft cabins. Now, aren’t Norway, Sweden, and Denmark all Scandinavian? And what does Gary’s comment have to do with your gratuitous comment about Americans and geography, culture, and gourmet food?

Two words: blueberry juice

Who will Finnair be using for their lounge at SeaTac?

It would be great if Finnair added service to Duluth MN-Superior WI because of the number of Finnish people in that area.