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Odyssey on Finnair A350-900XWB
Finnair is the first A350 operator in Europe, and currently, A350 are being run on mainly Bangkok flights and Shanghai/Beijing flights, with a brief run in mid-January for its JFK flights. There are three other operators of A350s now – Qatar Airways, Vietnam Airlines, and Finnair. Finnair gives me the best price and schedule, and while Finnair is not a fancy carrier, it offers a consistent product both in the air and on the ground. I love its joint branding with Marimekko – cabin interior, upholstery, china, plates, pillow, bedding, amenity kit, and service folder. There are certain areas for improvement especially its ridiculously weak catering, but for an affordable business class ticket, Finnair provides a good product, especially when after flying an overnight transatlantic 787 flight on British Airways Club World. However, the most impressive aspect is the plane itself and A350s definitely earn its XWB badge, and the headroom/high ceiling is just unbelievable. I am a big fan of A350 now. For this trip report, I flew three A350 segments: HEL-BKK-HEL-JFK. I try to take as many pictures as possible, and since I am flying J, I also try to take some pictures in the back. Unfortunately both HEL-BKK-HEL are full 100% and HEL-JFK has a much lower load, but passengers spread out through the plane, so I never got the chance to sit at one of the Y seats.
Here is the full photo album for those, who are not interested in the written part!
http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...January%202016
January 10, 2016; Sunday
AY 89 HEL-BKK Lv1700 Arr0725+1 Airbus A350-900 OH-LWA
Flight Plan for AY 89 – I love the new display and your voucher for free wifi in J is also displayed – each seat has a different voucher – Finnair offers wifi on all the A350 flights, and the day pass costs 15EUR, but it is free for business class. Each seat features a different voucher for you to use, and the voucher is only good for one device. But you can login and logoff in one device, and then use it on another device by logging in again. The system worked pretty well on all the flights, except the BKK-HEL segment, in which it took a while for the voucher code to work. The speed was acceptable – not lighting fast of course, but you can do basic social media things. Text is fine.
After arriving from London Heathrow on AY 832 on OH-LQB, an Airbus A340-300, I headed straight to the Finnair’s Premium lounge, which is fairly crowded. It got worst, as the day progressed especially in the middle of the late afternoon Asian rush. There were passengers, who had to stand, and given how AY continues to expand, they need more lounge spaces.
A few shots of the business class cabin on the A340-300, which will give you some comparison with A350:
Not really bad feet space
Lack luster intra-European Finnair meal – fancy printed menu, but need more substances and will it hurt to serve a real dessert, not some packaged bun? Not to mention an additional fruit or cheese plate!
Finnair is the first A350 operator in Europe, and currently, A350 are being run on mainly Bangkok flights and Shanghai/Beijing flights, with a brief run in mid-January for its JFK flights. There are three other operators of A350s now – Qatar Airways, Vietnam Airlines, and Finnair. Finnair gives me the best price and schedule, and while Finnair is not a fancy carrier, it offers a consistent product both in the air and on the ground. I love its joint branding with Marimekko – cabin interior, upholstery, china, plates, pillow, bedding, amenity kit, and service folder. There are certain areas for improvement especially its ridiculously weak catering, but for an affordable business class ticket, Finnair provides a good product, especially when after flying an overnight transatlantic 787 flight on British Airways Club World. However, the most impressive aspect is the plane itself and A350s definitely earn its XWB badge, and the headroom/high ceiling is just unbelievable. I am a big fan of A350 now. For this trip report, I flew three A350 segments: HEL-BKK-HEL-JFK. I try to take as many pictures as possible, and since I am flying J, I also try to take some pictures in the back. Unfortunately both HEL-BKK-HEL are full 100% and HEL-JFK has a much lower load, but passengers spread out through the plane, so I never got the chance to sit at one of the Y seats.
Here is the full photo album for those, who are not interested in the written part!
http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...January%202016
January 10, 2016; Sunday
AY 89 HEL-BKK Lv1700 Arr0725+1 Airbus A350-900 OH-LWA
Flight Plan for AY 89 – I love the new display and your voucher for free wifi in J is also displayed – each seat has a different voucher – Finnair offers wifi on all the A350 flights, and the day pass costs 15EUR, but it is free for business class. Each seat features a different voucher for you to use, and the voucher is only good for one device. But you can login and logoff in one device, and then use it on another device by logging in again. The system worked pretty well on all the flights, except the BKK-HEL segment, in which it took a while for the voucher code to work. The speed was acceptable – not lighting fast of course, but you can do basic social media things. Text is fine.
After arriving from London Heathrow on AY 832 on OH-LQB, an Airbus A340-300, I headed straight to the Finnair’s Premium lounge, which is fairly crowded. It got worst, as the day progressed especially in the middle of the late afternoon Asian rush. There were passengers, who had to stand, and given how AY continues to expand, they need more lounge spaces.
A few shots of the business class cabin on the A340-300, which will give you some comparison with A350:
Not really bad feet space
Lack luster intra-European Finnair meal – fancy printed menu, but need more substances and will it hurt to serve a real dessert, not some packaged bun? Not to mention an additional fruit or cheese plate!
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