Finnair was the third airline in the world to receive an A350. Back when they received their first one in October 2015, it operated intra-European routes for a few months. Eventually, it started flying to many premium destinations such as Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai and more. I love the stylish business class product onboard, so it’s great to see it reach more destinations.
When I was joining Finnair on their inaugural flight from Helsinki to San Francisco a few weeks ago, I learned that they’d be taking delivery of their 9th A350 that week. Since they have eight A330-300s in their fleet, this officially makes them the first airline in the world with a majority A350 long-haul fleet!
The aircraft, registered OH-LWI, features Finnair’s new A350 configuration with fewer business class seats.
The newest @Airbus A350 for @Finnair on its way home to @HelsinkiAirport.
📡 https://t.co/XP6jOzSdRM pic.twitter.com/xaGOPILbwf
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 2, 2017
It’s great to see the A350 become so common that a relatively large international airline can rely so heavily on it for its long-haul network. The A350 is among the best widebody aircraft in the skies, so it’s exciting to see more of them around.
Have you flown the Finnair A350? What did you think?
Had the misfortune to sit in row 6. Not only served last for every service, but also ran out of meal options.
Good to remember:
https://www.ausbt.com.au/finnair-joins-cathay-pacific-in-airbus-a350-seat-swap
@Jon W: The cheese grater! Thank you for this. My little toe on the left foot knows exactly what you are talking about. I took AY100 from HKG to HEL last week and, while it was a very comfortable flight, I could not lie flat due to that. I am 6'3" so I quickly ran out of room. I learned to hate those vents.
Yes your head is in the aisle...you get use to it. Much to my surprise, I now love the rear facing J seats on AA.
Cutting edge, no ... its just what most on here rave about. Its lovely to have a bed, but a bit of privacy is nice (DL and QR lead the charge) Im sure SQ and CX will follow.
The AY seats are a tighter fit (you can even tell by the picture).
Reverse herringbone is the best. Look at Qatar and Cathay Pacific. In Finn Air can barely turn around while on CX/QR it's very comfortable. Flew AY from SIN-HEL few weeks ago. Nice people but seat too tight...
@Jon W - It's not difficult, it's Finnair.
I flew the A350 on HEL-BKK and HKG - HEL in August 2016.
The good -
Loved the design, the seat, the crew, the food, the service level was out of this world. Huge fan of Marimekko designs on everything. On overnight flights, no unnecessary announcements, wake up, light, etc. When I woke up, a flight attendant was there seconds later with water, then with coffee and orange juice, and asked if I wanted...
I flew the A350 on HEL-BKK and HKG - HEL in August 2016.
The good -
Loved the design, the seat, the crew, the food, the service level was out of this world. Huge fan of Marimekko designs on everything. On overnight flights, no unnecessary announcements, wake up, light, etc. When I woke up, a flight attendant was there seconds later with water, then with coffee and orange juice, and asked if I wanted breakfast now or later. Loved preordering my main.
The bad
The seat itself - the design was beautiful, fun and functional. The wear on it was unacceptable. It was practically broken (see cheesegrater comments above) already, and less than a year old! I hope they fixed or swapped out the poor design elements for more robust ones. All four seats (2 outbound, 2 inbound) had some form of major wear on them.
Etc
Having 4 lavs for 46 business passengers was great. I didn't really see the snack offerings as someone was always in the galley and I didn't want to intrude. The menu offered several dessert options but I was only asked if I wanted ice cream (which was delicious blueberry ice cream), never saw the petits fours or cupcakes.
I have to say, even though it was an A320 on the shorthaul HEL - LHR, the food offered (vegan meal, amazing, hot food) hands down put British food to shame, on the same leg. Tons of champagne, mixed drinks, non-stop attention...
I would fly the A350 and Finnair again in a heartbeat. Hope their seat supplier got their act together....
Just sitting in one of these A350´s. My second trip. Still rememebring and noticing the same stupid design issues. Nothing changed from my first times almost a year ago. So different compared to like Qatar Airways A350's.
On paper this might look really nice but it the real life the environment really sucks.
DId give my feed back from the first try.
The FA's are doing there best this time. HAve at least...
Just sitting in one of these A350´s. My second trip. Still rememebring and noticing the same stupid design issues. Nothing changed from my first times almost a year ago. So different compared to like Qatar Airways A350's.
On paper this might look really nice but it the real life the environment really sucks.
DId give my feed back from the first try.
The FA's are doing there best this time. HAve at least the 1 hour internet that this time is working.
Last time no WIFI .
Can only so much agree of the previous comments of the looks.
Alvin, they might be 'cutting edge', but they have very little privacy, if any though.
I flew business class on both a Finn Air A350 and CX A350 within a few hours of each other and found the CX seats to be much better. Why?
I am just a medium height of 5'11. Unfortunately I found that the Finn Air foot well was tiny and also there was a vent in the foot well that I named "the cheese grater". It was very uncomfortable. I couldn't even take a short...
I flew business class on both a Finn Air A350 and CX A350 within a few hours of each other and found the CX seats to be much better. Why?
I am just a medium height of 5'11. Unfortunately I found that the Finn Air foot well was tiny and also there was a vent in the foot well that I named "the cheese grater". It was very uncomfortable. I couldn't even take a short nap on the 9+ hour red-eye. A few hours later, I connected to a CX A350. While they appear similarly configured, the CX was significantly more spacious particularly in the foot well, didn't have the cheese-grater vent, and was more comfortable for sitting, reclining, and laying down.
I know there have been issues with a variety of seats. The FInn Air A350 was about 1 year old but a couple panels in my space kept falling off and there was significant wear. The guy behind me had more serious issues. He brought them to the FAs as "safety issues". Things got heated up and them trying to appease him by asking a female non-rev to switch only made it worse before it got better. The CX A350 I flew on was just weeks old (had that new plane smell) but there were already some scruff marks.
@ n - Yes. Reverse herringbone seats are some of the most cutting edge seats in the industry so there isn't a need to change the product completely
@jani, but will they have the same design?
Those business seats will be replaced by new similar ones as the quality of the seats has not been satisfactory.
those business class seats look awful - no privacy and your head would basically be in the aisle when you're asleep
I have flown their A350 in business class on both long-haul (to BKK) and short-haul (to LHR) flights from HEL, the latter just last week. While I understand these machines get a lot of burn and I flew on their very first A350 (OH-LWA), it was amazing how much the business cabin had aged in only 18 months of service. The colors have faded, some storage compartments were not working (and these were replacement parts...
I have flown their A350 in business class on both long-haul (to BKK) and short-haul (to LHR) flights from HEL, the latter just last week. While I understand these machines get a lot of burn and I flew on their very first A350 (OH-LWA), it was amazing how much the business cabin had aged in only 18 months of service. The colors have faded, some storage compartments were not working (and these were replacement parts from 2016) and the seats had a lot of pretty deep scratches and marks. Also pretty amazing contrast of cabin service between short-haul and long-haul. Nonetheless, still a gorgeous plane and an awesome addition to Finnair's fleet.
On the downside, flight-long WiFi in business class is no longer free...instead business class passengers are limited to an hour of WiFi.