Odyssey on Finnair A350-900XWB - Trip report on AY J A350 January 2016

[Carfield]

Or
Slow cooked reindeer entrecote, roasted celeriac and dark sea buckthorn sauce
Or
Ravioli Pasta filled with truffle, Riesling cream sauce and leaf spinach

Desserts
Cheeses from Finnish small producers:
Peltolan Blue cheese and “Brandy-pahkina”, matured milk cheese with brandy-nut flavor
Port wine jam




Macarone-sortiment



Haagen-Dazs Vanilla or strawberry cheesecake Ice Cream
Coffee and tea, avec

I definitely appreciated being offered both cheese and dessert on today’s flight and I presume that there were plenty extra on this lightly loaded business class cabin.

Scenery after dinner


One of the F/As told me that they would put out a light show after the meal service and it was called “Northern light” and the best view was from the aft cabin. I initially misunderstood them that I would be able to spot the Northern light out from the window and towards the end, I realize that they were using the mood-lightning feature to do a light show. It was pretty cool!






Snacks
Throughout the flight we will served a variety of snacks and sweets in the cabin.
Feel free to choose from fresh fruits, potato chips, noodles, nuts and almonds and chocolate.

[Carfield]

Midflight winglet shot



The light meal was a major disappointment, and it was served when it was 9:45pm Helsinki time/2:45pm NYC time. It was basically dinnertime and I was actually quite hungry, but that cold salad was such a turnoff. It was honestly the last thing I wanted at that time of the day. There was no meat or seafood topping and I didn’t care how fresh the vegetables were. I wanted at least a hot sandwich or a warm entrée like a pasta dish. They also ran out of bread rolls so only crackers were offered.

Light Meal
We served a light meal ca 90 minutes before landing.


Goat cheese and beetroot salad with apple and pine nuts
Balsamic-olive oil or Caesar dressing


Fresh Fruit




Descent began at 4:03pm local time, and I took a series of pictures of the tail camera.

[Carfield]

We landed on R/W31R at 4:46pm.




We parked at gate B6 at 4:52pm.


Unfortunately, this trip ended with a delay that could be avoided. The only saving grace was the quiet immigration hall, as we were the only international flight arriving at these late afternoon hours.

In conclusion, I am a fan of the A350 and look forward flying them in the future, especially with other airlines. Finnair does a pretty good job in decorating the cabin and the joint branding with Marimekko is brilliant. The cabin looks stylish and the new business class suites are definitely a success. Some people mentioned that those reverse herringbone seats are pretty bad for couples, but direct aisle access and suites are more important these days. Most passengers in J are solo travelers, so Finnair makes the correct decision with this seat. Finnair, however, really needs to work on its catering and I feel that the A350 signature menu has some cutbacks, rather than improvement. You need to serve more substantive courses and maybe offering a dessert tray with fruit, cheese, and dessert will be necessary at least on daytime flights.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this A350 trip report!

Carfield

[milehighj]

Thanks for posting. ^

[yflyer]

Very nice report, Carfield!

The Y product looks very similar to the QR A350XWB Y product, whereas the J product looks different. QR J also has a herringbone layout, but the partitions on AY look higher and the seat features and config look different.

If the fare is right, I might consider AY (in Y) for a future trip to Europe.

[MEL-World]

Great report. Always appreciate a first report of a new aircraft type. Tks.

[SQflyergirl]

Excellent report Carfield - Love the HD cameras on the 350