- Moderator
- #1
I booked this flight back in September 2024 for 2 reasons. Firstly, the flight is on their A350 an aircraft type I’ve never flown on before and secondly the aircraft has their long-haul business class product on. Long haul business class isn’t something that is easily affordable for many so when an airline like Finnair uses such an aircraft on an intra-European route it’s a great opportunity to experience a product like this even if it involves a journey from my home in Leeds down to Heathrow.
My journey to Helsinki started at Terminal 3, after dropping off my luggage I headed through security. There didn’t seem to be a fast-track lane open but that didn’t really matter as the trip through security was quick. I’ve no doubt this was helped by Heathrow having the new security scanners which meant people didn’t have to take out their electronics from their bags unlike at Manchester the previous day on way down to Heathrow. Once through security I headed to the Qantas lounge which is the lounge Finnair uses at Heathrow for their business class passengers. I spent roughly an hour in the lounge having some breakfast and enjoying the views of the aircraft taxiing and taking off. It was a nice quiet place to relax before my flight and a lot less crowded than the Escape lounge at Manchester the day before.
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After my time spent in the lounge, I headed down to my gate which was gate 32 which took me under 15 minutes to walk to from the lounge. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a photo of the A350 that was to take me to Finland which was disappointing as an enthusiast especially as the aircraft OH-LWL was in their Marimekko Kivet livery. The jet bridge infrastructure blocked the view sadly. After a bit of a wait, we started boarding.
My seat for this flight was 7L. Finnair business class is in a 1-2-1 configuration and my A350 had 30 business class seats which Finnair calls AirLounge. It also has 26 Premium Economy seats and 265 Economy seats. Finnair business class seat is a bit different to many others in that there is no recline but I didn’t find that too much of a problem. The seat was nice and wide, it was like sitting in a comfy armchair in the sky with good privacy and I was able to stretch my legs out and lie down for a bit. On arrival the cabin crew showed me to my seat and pillows, water and headphones were waiting for me. Before too long boarding was complete and we pushed back and started taxiing to the runway to depart Heathrow. There were several aircraft ahead of us and it must have been a good 20 minutes before we were lining up to depart on runway 9R. Our route took us over north London with glimpses of Tower bridge in the distance through the clouds and then we were above them heading for Finland.
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Service started with a drink and a snack, I chose a Finnish beer called Sandals and the flight attendant gave me a pack of pretzels. Lunch was a dish I pre ordered on the Finnair website, a prawn pasta dish with a creamy sauce. It came with a side salad of a beetroot mouse with feta cheese and a freshly baked roll. One of the flight attendants came around with more bread during the meal. Dessert was a freshly baked cinnamon bun, and I washed it all down with another Finnish beer. The food was excellent and the service was great. For the rest of the flight I was able to do some work on my computer and watch the IFE especially the inflight cameras which are a cool feature of the A350 and generally just relax. The crew came around checking on me and asking if I wanted anything more to drink. Their service was really good but that might have been helped by the business class cabin being only 50% full.
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After about 2 and half hours of flying time sadly it was time for the flight to come to an end and we approached our destination. We approached Helsinki from the west and landed on runway 4L. Getting through the airport was pretty quick and I didn’t have to wait long to collect my luggage and was able to head through to the airport straight out to the train station. The train journey to Helsinki station took about 30 mins and then it another 15 minutes on the tram to get to my hotel by the harbour.
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Overall, I enjoyed my flight in Finnair’s business class, for me it has to be the best flight experience I’ve had yet and was an amazing experience worth every penny I paid for it. I also enjoyed using Heathrow airport for the first time in a very long time. It was an easy airport to use, busy but not overcrowded and an enjoyable experience and if I didn’t now live in Yorkshire, I’d definitely consider it more of an option for me flight wise.
My return flight is to Manchester with Finnair again but this time in economy so keep an eye out for that review.
My journey to Helsinki started at Terminal 3, after dropping off my luggage I headed through security. There didn’t seem to be a fast-track lane open but that didn’t really matter as the trip through security was quick. I’ve no doubt this was helped by Heathrow having the new security scanners which meant people didn’t have to take out their electronics from their bags unlike at Manchester the previous day on way down to Heathrow. Once through security I headed to the Qantas lounge which is the lounge Finnair uses at Heathrow for their business class passengers. I spent roughly an hour in the lounge having some breakfast and enjoying the views of the aircraft taxiing and taking off. It was a nice quiet place to relax before my flight and a lot less crowded than the Escape lounge at Manchester the day before.
View media item 19425
View media item 19426
View media item 19427
After my time spent in the lounge, I headed down to my gate which was gate 32 which took me under 15 minutes to walk to from the lounge. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a photo of the A350 that was to take me to Finland which was disappointing as an enthusiast especially as the aircraft OH-LWL was in their Marimekko Kivet livery. The jet bridge infrastructure blocked the view sadly. After a bit of a wait, we started boarding.
My seat for this flight was 7L. Finnair business class is in a 1-2-1 configuration and my A350 had 30 business class seats which Finnair calls AirLounge. It also has 26 Premium Economy seats and 265 Economy seats. Finnair business class seat is a bit different to many others in that there is no recline but I didn’t find that too much of a problem. The seat was nice and wide, it was like sitting in a comfy armchair in the sky with good privacy and I was able to stretch my legs out and lie down for a bit. On arrival the cabin crew showed me to my seat and pillows, water and headphones were waiting for me. Before too long boarding was complete and we pushed back and started taxiing to the runway to depart Heathrow. There were several aircraft ahead of us and it must have been a good 20 minutes before we were lining up to depart on runway 9R. Our route took us over north London with glimpses of Tower bridge in the distance through the clouds and then we were above them heading for Finland.
View media item 19428
View media item 19429
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Service started with a drink and a snack, I chose a Finnish beer called Sandals and the flight attendant gave me a pack of pretzels. Lunch was a dish I pre ordered on the Finnair website, a prawn pasta dish with a creamy sauce. It came with a side salad of a beetroot mouse with feta cheese and a freshly baked roll. One of the flight attendants came around with more bread during the meal. Dessert was a freshly baked cinnamon bun, and I washed it all down with another Finnish beer. The food was excellent and the service was great. For the rest of the flight I was able to do some work on my computer and watch the IFE especially the inflight cameras which are a cool feature of the A350 and generally just relax. The crew came around checking on me and asking if I wanted anything more to drink. Their service was really good but that might have been helped by the business class cabin being only 50% full.
View media item 19431
View media item 19432
View media item 19433
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After about 2 and half hours of flying time sadly it was time for the flight to come to an end and we approached our destination. We approached Helsinki from the west and landed on runway 4L. Getting through the airport was pretty quick and I didn’t have to wait long to collect my luggage and was able to head through to the airport straight out to the train station. The train journey to Helsinki station took about 30 mins and then it another 15 minutes on the tram to get to my hotel by the harbour.
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Overall, I enjoyed my flight in Finnair’s business class, for me it has to be the best flight experience I’ve had yet and was an amazing experience worth every penny I paid for it. I also enjoyed using Heathrow airport for the first time in a very long time. It was an easy airport to use, busy but not overcrowded and an enjoyable experience and if I didn’t now live in Yorkshire, I’d definitely consider it more of an option for me flight wise.
My return flight is to Manchester with Finnair again but this time in economy so keep an eye out for that review.
