I was especially excited about my return flight to the United States, as I'd have the chance to fly Finnair's new no-recline business class, which is known as the AirLounge seat and is designed by Collins Aerospace. Earlier this year the airline announced it was overhauling cabins on the A330 and A350, with the new…
Continue reading: Review: New Finnair Business Class A330 (ARN-JFK)
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I actually was on the this flight just a few days ago and had a nearly identical experience. I think the “Air Lounge” was awesome after a bit of a “get to know you” period. Similarly, it is difficult to overstate the apathy of the (definitely not Finnish) flight crew. Most of them were perfunctory, with zero interest in evoking even a smile from the passengers. I actually had a flight attendant convince me that their “signature drink,” which I ordered, was terrible and that I should just get a gin and tonic. What a weird way to begin a flight. Anyway, they got us out of a major SAS-induced jam and I’m thrilled to have tried the seat (and would do it again), but the service was a solid “meh.”
What happened to the traditional Finnish water glasses? I see they still use them for the sparkling and signature cocktail.
Just flew HEL-SEA last week. Appetizers were plated separately from mains. The cheese plate was pretty weak (as pictured by you), food quantities otherwise were OK (and it’s not like you couldn’t get food in the HEL AY J lounge, staff went through with chocolates and water service and were more proactive. The snack at the end isn’t a lot of food but whatever.
It’s the old A330 so hard product is allegedly “meh”, but I was in a bulkhead throne seat and it’s a daytime flight so I am at best taking a nap, not trying to get a lot of sleep in as I adjust to UTC +7 from UTC +3. Seat is fine for what it is (though I will look forward to the new AY seat).
"The cabin was totally dimmed so I didn’t want to open the window shade at my seat"
Why not, I wonder? This is a day flight. People should be getting accustomed to the light. You shouldn't have to suffer because of their bad choices.
Finnairs Stockholm baded crew are on leased base. And think of that Finnair have sold this longhaul tickets on the Swedish market for under $1000! In Business class turn and return. Including a status match to Finnair Plus (gives you Oneworld status). So they have to cost cut.
Just flew the JFK-ARN flight a few days ago. Will add that the bulkhead seats have more room for your feet. I’m 6’5” and had plenty of room for sleeping. Agree that the seat was comfortable.
I had the purser as my main flight attendant. She was Finnish, but others seemed non-Finnish (and all spoke English to each other). Agree re: food, but it came quickly after takeoff. Appreciated that it was all on one tray given most of us were trying to sleep soon after takeoff.
Would definitely fly this product again for the price (same as yours).
A few guesses for your next adventure:
- jetBlue A321neo to London
- jetBlue Mint to the West Coast of the U.S.
- Aer Lingus A321LRA/A330 to Dublin
- TAP A330neo to Lisbon
I am always in awe of the Americans wanting total darkness during a flight. Even a daytime one. This is a blog about the journey too.
I flew HEL-SEA J on July 4. They didn't even offer a cheese course. I guess I could have asked, but I didn't see anyone do it.
Even though it was the "old" A330 configuration, I'd fly Finnair again in a heartbeat. HEL beats LHR anytime.
Great review! I agree with mostly everything here, including the praise for the seat, and the, well, non-praise for the meal 🙂 You sometimes called BA First the best business class in the world. I have copied you a little and call Finnair business class the best premium economy in the world…
The Norrsken lounge is terrible, you didn’t miss anything.
Protip for the power outlet: plug your charger in before you switch into bed mode and have the chord come up through the slits. It works. But yes, that’s the one thing that was not well-designed. I’ve found the wireless charging great. I don’t use my phone in the air so there’s no hurry, and thanks to the rubber on the side table, the phone stays put quite well.
The amenity kit is cheap and meagre, but the eyemask is actually one of the best business class eyemasks out there. The slippers are made of recycled PET bottles. They get the job done, though – I use them when I go to the lav and leave them on the plane. They have socks on board, too, but you’ll have to ask the crew.
Finnair Platinums get free wifi for the whole flight, with no data caps, which is of great value.
Flight attendants: the Finnair union contract is written so that all longhaul flights are to/from HEL. AY wanted their own FAs to operate ex-ARN but the union did not agree to amend the contract, so AY hired third party FAs (some of which are new hires, others are laid-off AY FAs via new employer). The union apparently realised their move was not particularly smart because AY currently operates wetleases for Eurowings and BA, and those have ”real” AY cabin crew. I hope ARN flights will have AY crew soon, too.
They're too heavy, so they've been replaced with cheaper, lighter glasses. Cost-cutting.
I have to disagree with Ben as far as the seats, sometimes you just want to recline. Not sit straight up or lie flat. With this seat this is not possible.I even asked to switch into a premium economy seat but it was fully booked. I took the same flight around 3 weeks and I struggled to be comfortable. I agree that the food was middling but the crew on my flight was quite good.
Why do airlines (and most passengers) insist on creating a dark cabin on these transatlantic day time flights? Makes no sense to me.
The crew can set up the service while customers are boarding, but that is a courtesy. Since they are still not getting paid. Their duties on the ground is to make sure everything is there, not to set it up. So that can drag the start of the service once in the air.
Crew do it for the same reason some airlines have hot cabins. It's to encourage passengers to sleep.
The more passengers sleep the less work for the crew.
Look at the bright side the service is about the same in Economy. I've flown finnair economy many times and most of the time the flight attendants have the personalty of a brick wall
I thought AY long had the "innovative" staffing approach. Pre-pandemic, their Asia flights (HKG/ICN/SIN, etc.) were exclusively via the third party agency which was likely to lower the labour cost. The purser/FA on HEL-SIN told me that it had been going on for years. They only worked those Asia flights.
going to state the obvious here but that meal looked absolutely hideous.
I mean - look at it!
Nope. Of the longhaul routes, only HKG, SIN and DEL had outsourced Asian cabin crew pre-covid, and still do. The rest have Finnish cabin crew, with a few destination country crew members added. While the main aim is of course to save money, especially on the Chinese routes it is indeed a matter of safety as well – many pax don't speak any European languages.
While in the US flight attendants do not get paid before the door closes, this is not the case in the rest of the world.
Is shocking that even in China Southern short-haul business class, u can be offered a selection of a variety of HOT bread... And they can't do it in Finnair?
It’s much better than what you get on Lufthansa business class on intercontinental flights. At least there are snacks and meals are more presentable on Finnair.
Not correct. DEL has a only 2 Indian crew on each flight but the rest of them are HEL based. I’ve done the route many many times with AY and spoken to the crew also.
2 things to note:
1. On OMAAT, many people and Lucky enjoy beyond words pooping on US-based airlines. Not that they're great, but let's stop pretending European airlines are good and/or memorable - at best they get the job done meaning they bring you from point A to point B in an average business class seat and with decent food. At worst, the food and service outright suck, the planes are old and the seats are so-so. Manage your expectations - I'm not in the least surprised the service on a European carrier was below something a spoilt upper class dude would expect.
2. Impressive as hell how fast Finnair has been refurbishing its fleet (again, especially for a European airline). Are you guys trying to be ANA or something?
Truly yours,
Syd
I agree! These business class seats are not innovative but rather cheap and miss the mark. I definitely prefer reclining seats.
So apparently it didn't bother you to lay with your head on the "fart sponge" portion of the seat?
Quiche Lorraine contains bacon, and can never be vegetarian, even for ovo-lacto vegetarians.
I'd be interested to know when in the flight the WIFI photo was taken. Interesting that with all the emphasis on Wifi on flights at the moment, a day-time transatlantic flight only had 3 users online.
I’m happy to hear that the new Finnair seat is great. I’m looking forward to booking Finnair in the near future.
Im also glad to hear that the flight was full, which means that they probably operate at a profit, despite the very low fares offered ex ARN at the beginning. I’m sure the strike by the SAS pilots is really helpful for Finnair. I’m glad about this, because Finnair really suffers disproportionately for the double crisis (Covid plus Ukraine).
I guess none of your fliers think of 'value for money' In my experience biz fares for full service are at least half the cost of 'almighty Qatar' BA biz class eastbound food comes on one tray including dessert and cheese. I have yet to fly with an indifferent Finair crew and looking for to my upcoming flight to Bkk
I thought this too, particularly as Ben doesn't eat pork! I suspect it was a plain quiche as I'm sure he would have noticed the bacon or ham lardons in a quiche Lorraine.
"You kind of have to pull yourself up by backing up in the seat. That’s not as easy as just raising the seat back, but I didn’t find it to be a big issue."
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"Cool story bro."
~signed,
Anyone with even slight physical limitations.
When did this change back? DEL was outsourced before covid, much to the joy of AY cabin crew, many of which did not look forward to spending the night in Delhi/Aerocity.
I just took DEL-HEL-DEL in J class in the past few weeks. Can confirm it was Indian crew on both flights. Having said that, they were entirely professional and friendly in both directions, so no concerns despite it not "feeling Finnish", so to speak.
My meals were also better than this review - warm bread offered in both directions including quality sourdough, better than the standard bread rolls/croissants offered on some other carriers. The entrees came out first and main soon after (i.e. they didn't wait until I had finished the two small plates but at least there was a bit of a gap). Cheese and desserts were both offered.
The ex-Asia flights are not staffed wholly by locally-sourced or based FAs...out of BKK to HEL, for example, there is always only 1 or 2 FAs, max, who are Thai and based in Bangkok, while the rest of the FAs were Finnish. Out of SIN, it is - or at least was from 2017-2020 - the same. Perhaps this has changed in the last year or two, but I never saw more than 2 "locals" working these flights.
I don’t know, I flew in at least twice a year between 2017 - 2020 and they had majority AY crew and a couple of local crew. I’ve never been on a DEL flight with fully Indian crews.
I would never take that seat. "We're doing away with reclining, just scooch"! Are you kidding me?
The only takeaway I get from this is how disgusting it would be to have my head resting where someone's butt sits for hours upon hours... I just can't..... Seats are already gross enough and I usually carry a microfiber towel to put under me - but this is next level.
Just flew Finnair Business Class on back to back long haul flights on the same A330 (Seat 5A DOH>HEL>JFK). I felt like a prisoner trapped in a warm sweaty cell. The walls tower all around you and create a feeling of dark isolation. I hated the fact I could not choose the angle of my resting position. It's upright or fully flat...period. I want more choice from my airlines. The best way to describe the feeling when flat is it is like having an MRI. You are completely trapped with very little room to maneuver your legs. I wanted to scream. They have random chunks of metal jutting out in different spots that further constricted my space. Forget trying to lay on your back with your knees bent. The TV screen prevents you from doing this. Broad-shouldered back sleepers like me will most likely share the feeling of claustrophobia around your upper body. The walls just appear to close in on you.
The seat belts are a monumental nuisance. There is a shoulder harness that is required for take off and landing. This is overly-restrictive. When released after take off the shoulder strap holder sticks in your head when you’re seated in the upright position…maddening. Laying down is the worst…there is a lap belt that has a ludicrously intense retraction mechanism. It pins you down like a restrained inmate. I just couldn’t wear it (which goes against my personal preference and airline guidance)
As for the service. I made it my mission to try to get one of the Flight Attendants to smile back at my beaming face (yes - I still had a smile for people who help me …American DNA). I failed miserably. Alcohol servings were limited...the one thing that could have lightened my mood. Wine glasses were whisked away without even asking whether I wanted a refresh. The food was really good quality but the entree on both flights was lukewarm. I also didn’t like the way they served the appetizers and main meal on one tray...we have hours of flight...take the time to separate them. It's like they wanted to get the service done so they could disappear.
The cabin was kept at a natural temperature for the all-female European cabin crew but was stiflingly warm for this American male who was wearing shorts and a tee shirt (in February). Mercifully there were overhead air nozzles blowing out warm air on me. I would have lost it without this.
Sleep quality on both flights was a zero. I am truly having PTSD thinking back to my experience. I would dearly loved Finnair to have worked out for me so I could free myself from transferring in Heathrow but alas this wont happen. I will do everything to avoid this hard product until they switch it out to a more forgiving offering.