If you read this piece from last month you’ll know the A350 is one of the best planes to fly on these days especially if you’re in economy class. Though the airplane choice is less critical in business class, that same advice still applies because you’ll benefit from all those nice new-airplane perks like a bright and airy cabin, big windows, quiet engines and nice lighting.
Finnair has several A350 flying on its long-haul routes now and they are a pleasure to fly, although the very white and bright cabin decor might not be for everyone.
Still the seats are private and comfortable, the service is usually good, and the food and drink menus include plenty of appealing Nordic and Finnish-inspired options. Not to mention that all the Finnish touches you’ll find onboard (including the fascinating Finnish language) add a distinctive feeling and a uniqueness to the experience that’s hard to find on a European airline.
A daytime flight earlier this year from Helsinki to Dubai offered the perfect chance to test out Finnair’s A350 business class, though there wasn’t really time on this six-hour leg to test out the fully flat bed.
The seat is in an ideal ‘reverse herringbone’ configuration, arranged 1-2-1 across, so that every window seat is also an aisle seat and has plenty of privacy. When traveling solo it’s really hard to beat these types of seats. Finnair’s are done up in a very mild grey color and surrounded by white plastic for the most part – hence the perhaps excessively white ambiance overall. But it’s better than garish colors or an overly dark cabin. They add lime green pillows for a touch of color, which may also provoke a divided response. In the end the cabin is mostly pleasant and inoffensive. The seat has a flip-out screen and plenty of surfaces on which to put things.
The only issue with these particular seats is that they’re packed a little bit tighter than some other reverse herringbone seats, so especially tall passengers may feel just a little bit hemmed in. But it’s a fairly subtle difference. For most purposes the seat and cabin are really great. In fact spending a six-hour daytime flight working in this seat is just about the ideal office day. The inflight internet worked well. The service was unobtrusive. It didn’t involve anything elaborate but flight attendants were around to get you what you needed and were friendly and easy to interact with. The fantastic tail camera offered nice views of the special Marimekko livery while the snowy Caucasus Mountains passed by below.
For those interested in a drink or two, Finnair’s special cocktails are interesting – combinations like blueberry juice and blueberry liqueur (very Nordic) or cloudberry liqueur with champagne (even more so). For lunch there’s good dark bread and plenty of fresh flavors. You probably don’t choose to fly Finnair specifically for the food but once onboard it’s a nice added bonus that everything is fresh and tasty and well-presented. Their iconic iitala glassware is really appealing as well.
In fact Finnair is one of the airlines that best captures and reproduces the look, feel and charm of its home nation. To fly Finnair is to step for a moment into the best of what Finland has to offer. And in the end that’s a great thing for an airline to accomplish, especially one like this which flies a lot of people through its hub to other places. Many of them may be inspired by the onboard experience to come back and visit Finland properly one day. Certain other flag carriers should take note: your airline can be the ultimate branding and marketing tool for your country, if you do it right.
