Return to reality - Business Class on Finnair's flagship A350 from Helsinki to London
That end of trip feeling (usually) sucks. You're on your way to the airport, heading back to reality and realising how fast time had flown whilst on holiday. This time though it was slightly different:
- no long journey to the airport since we had stayed at the Hilton Hotel at Helsinki Airport
- time to relax in the lounge
- and a cheap upgrade to Business Class on Finnair's A350 widebody aircraft
Although this was a return to reality, it was a pleasantly relaxing and fun return to reality that can't be beat. Even better this was the first time my father, who had joined me on this trip, had been in Business Class.
Airport experience
Whenever you travel from or via an airline's primary hub, whether that is British Airways at Heathrow, Qatar Airways in Doha or Finnair in Helsinki, you are bound to get a better experience than at one of their destination airports. This is due to the emphasis an airline wants to place often on representing their country as the flag carrier or that economically it makes sense to invest the most in the location where you have the most flights. Finnair is no different.
Helsinki Airport, as with almost all continental European airports, is split between connected Schengen and non-Schengen terminals. When entering the airport, you will proceed through the Schengen terminal which houses Finnair's least impressive lounge and towards the common external border point. On the day we visited, which was prior to the UK exiting the EU, the e-gates to leave the Schengen zone were closed and all passengers advised to go through the physical manned checks. This slowed down an otherwise seamless experience and was frustrating when the e-gates could have processed the same number of passengers much faster. However, I hope when you next travel via Helsinki you will not need to go through this either.
Once in the non-Schengen terminal, you'll be greeted by a greater selection of duty free stores, modern refurbishments as well as not one but two Finnair Lounges. At the time of visiting the lounge was being refurbished and was not in a complete state however I can boil it down to:
- beautifully designed shower rooms with premium skincare moisturiser and amenities from Swedish apothecary house La Bruket.
- a selection of Finnish-inspired foods both hot and cold.
- drinks including alcoholic beverages and hot drinks that are relatively high quality.
- varied seating include low sofas, single chairs, high bar stools and office-esque desk chairs.
Unfortunately, due to the reduced space as a consequence of the building works, the lounge was restricted on space and as we approached the departure time of the flight the number of seats available reduced. Early in 2020, prior to the pandemic, Finnair launched their long awaited refurbishment of lounges completed. Understandably, I've not been able to visit but it looks fantastic and is now split between the Business Class lounge:
As well as the ultra premium status lounge for Finnair Platinum Lumo, Platinum and oneworld Emerald (BA Gold etc) members. The premium lounge offers a la carte food, barista made coffee and, as with most of Finland, a unique sauna to relax pre-flight. This is definitely a destination I hope to visit in the future!
The flight
Boarding was a mess. Helsinki is a beautifully designed airport encompassing Scandinavian values but they have not properly designed the boarding areas for large widebody aircraft like the A350. People who were not supposed to be boarding lined up whilst the queue snaked around the concourse area blocking other passengers from walking to other gates. Fortunately, there was no bussing to the plane involved and boarding completed on time for the 08h00 departure.
Once on board, you are greeted by a clean and modern cabin that is spacious and far better than almost every other intra-European business class flight. For comparison, below is what standard European business class looks like (i.e. Economy with a blocked middle seat):
The flight from Helsinki to London Heathrow is relatively long for intra-European travel at almost three hours. This gives you enough time to enjoy the cabin experience and all that Finnair has to offer. On this flight, Finnair offer a basic breakfast selection that consists of:
- strong good quality filter coffee or tea
- shredded potato hash brown
- omelette and greens
- bread
- fresh fruit and yoghurt
The meal is served on a single tray, even pre-Covid, but has proper metal cutlery, plate ware, Marimekko designed coffee cups and signature Ultima Thule glasses by Finnish brand Iittala. Although it was not the most exciting breakfast, and besides I'd already loaded up on food in the lounge, it was tasty and enough for the short hop to London.
The Finnair A350 in Business Class includes lie flat seating allowing you to kick back a little and catch some sleep or to just relax whilst watching the in-flight entertainment. I have flown on this aircraft and cabin on a long-haul flight and can attest it is comfortable and you can easily sleep on it, so comfort will definitely not be a problem when it comes down to a flight of this duration.
And one of the biggest differences about this flight versus almost any other intra-European flight is the inclusion of IFE - In Flight Entertainment. IFE of any kind when flying short haul is non-existent in Europe and to see it on this route is great - although not completely unexpected when the same aircraft also serves destinations like Seoul and Tokyo. Finnair's IFE has one of the most simple and effective interfaces I've seen on any airline - and, in my opinion, beats Qatar Airways. It invokes Finnish design qualities focussing on what matters the most including a home screen timeline that comes in particularly handy on long flights so you know when they will be offering duty free shopping, meals and landing times. Even better, the IFE experience, besides screen size, is completely the same regardless of whether you fly Economy or Business on the A350 with Finnair.
The verdict
As you can probably tell I loved my journey with Finnair in Business Class on their A350. I may have slightly rose-tinted glasses as my first business journey was also with Finnair however they get the basics perfect and offer a well-rounded experience particularly on such a short route. Against other European airlines, on both short and long haul, Finnair can't be beat - and I would whole-heartedly fly them again. When against carriers like Qatar, Turkish, Singapore and Cathay, however, they do have a harder time competing.
On the descent into London, conditions were perfect September sunshine - which made for some lovely snaps upon our return to everyday life. Just look at that engine view!
Have you flown on Finnair's flagship A350? What were your thoughts on the journey?