TRIED&TESTED Flight
Finnair A350 business class Toulouse-Helsinki
BACKGROUND Finnair is the first European airline to take delivery of the A350-900 and the third worldwide (after Qatar Airways and Vietnam Airlines). It will be placed on the Helsinki- Shanghai route from November 21 (flights AY57 and AY58). There are three more aircraft coming soon, with a total of 19 before 2023 – Beijing, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore are the next destinations to be served by them. This review is of the delivery flight from the Airbus factory in Toulouse so, as such, the onboard service was not typical. THE AIRCRAFT The 297-seat aircraft has 208 seats in economy, 43 in Economy Comfort and 46 in business. It has larger windows, accentuated by the clean white, blue and silver/grey colour scheme by Dsign Vertti Kivi and Co. The dynamic ambient mood LED lighting has 24 settings to suit the time, destination or season. Business class passengers, Finnair Plus Gold and Platinum and Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members have free wifi, while economy customers can pay by the hour (€5) or for the whole flight (€15). THE SEAT Business class is in two cabins of eight and four rows
(the front row in the rear cabin has only a pair of centre seats). Between them is a ladies-only washroom – on this flight it was being used by both sexes. The 1-2-1 layout means everyone has direct aisle access. Seats are spacious and the elegant design makes the interior seem airy. There’s plenty of room in the aisle. The tray table folds out to a
decent, if not generous, size. There is in-seat power and a USB port for charging your phone, although this is slow and it would take most of a long-haul flight to recharge an empty device. Bose noise- cancelling headphones and an amenity bag with Clarins products were provided.
WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE? Probably the window seat, if only because of the larger windows. Since the overhead lockers are above the window seats, you have more headroom in the centre. I would avoid row eight because of the galley and row 12 as it is close to Economy Comfort. THE FLIGHT After take-off, hot towels were offered and the entertainment system turned on. Wifi proved a little more problematic – the key code on my screen was invalid, and sorting this out took a while.
The food and drink offering is
Nordic, with business passengers offered an A350 signature drink called Blue Sky, a mix of champagne and Finnish blueberry liquor. The menu, by Kari Aihinen of Helsinki’s Restaurant Savoy, includes the likes of vendace roe mousse, warm smoked arctic char and reindeer entrecote. As this was a short flight, there
wasn’t time for a full service. On the menu was brochettes of shrimp and scallops; grilled salmon, zucchini and polenta with nuts; sable lemon and meringue; and a duet of ripened cheese. The flight was too short to assess the seat for sleeping but I reclined it fully-flat and there was plenty of room to turn around and get comfortable. The armrests also go down to create more space. I didn’t get the chance to investigate the Panasonic IFE system fully but the 16-inch screen was excellent and there was a fair choice of films. Staff were helpful and friendly. VERDICT The benefits of the A350 are well known but on board, the airline has wisely chosen top-class seating and a design and service ethic that will fly well both with those wanting to visit Asia and (the airline hopes) Asians wanting to visit Europe. For European flyers prepared to make a stop en route to Asia, the airline offers good value for money, and it now has an excellent aircraft to match.
TESTED BY Tom Otley
AIRCRAFT TYPE A350-900
CONFIGURATION 1-2-1
SEAT WIDTH 21 inches/53.3cm
SEAT RECLINE 180 degrees
BED LENGTH 75 inches/190.5cm
CONTACT
finnair.com
D A
G H
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9
ABC DFG HK H KJ
10 11 12
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
AC HK H KJ
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
LONGHAUL BUSINESS CLASS BUSINESS CLASS
ECONOMY COMFORT ECONOMY
24 NOVEMBER 2015 Visit
businesstraveller.com
PREMIUM ECONOMY CLASS
SHORTHAUL BUSINESS CLASS
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