From Singapore to Helsinki aboard Finnair's (old) business class

Foreword. Old does not mean ugly. Only that the new one is definitely more beautiful.

When I booked this ticket I was looking forward to flying in this ice-colored cabin, too bad that in the meantime there was a pandemic and the Finnish airline renovated the interior of its business class with a revolutionary seat, a product that is not found on any other aircraft the world except on Finnair A350s.

Specifications

Aircraft:

A350

Class:

Business

Treat:

SIN - HEL

Price:

0.50 euro + tax

Book

The Helsinki/Singapore route is one where all flights are operated with the new cabin, however, we were particularly unlucky. On the way out, a breakdown forced the carrier to change planes and we ended up in premium economy, on the way back probably because of the breakdown we were greeted by an A350 set up with the old business class.

Unfortunately, in this case there is nothing that can be done, companies can change machines without notice, and in any case the passenger has no certainty that the flight will be made by one means rather than another.

At the airport

We arrived very early at the Jewel, I think there is no word to sum up what this facility is, it is much more than a shopping mall with a food court of more than 50 different restaurants. It's a playground, a movie theater, convention center, and then there is the Rain Forest with the world's highest indoor waterfall.

This facility is directly connected to Terminal 1, and to go to T2 and T3 from which Singapore Airlines and Star Alliance carriers mainly fly, you can either take the people mover or walk through a tunnel for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Next time you pass through Singapore, don't miss the Jewel, it's a spectacle

After shopping and relaxing in the lounge inside the Jewel, you exact there is a lounge inside a mall that is accessible to Priority Pass card holders, around 6:30 p.m. we headed to the Finnair check-in counters.

When we got to the check-in counters, I found out. Finnair allows passengers to check in early, a very useful service for those who arrive early at the airport and want to get their boarding passes and get rid of their bags, and cannot use the service directly inside the Jewel.

At this point we then headed for security and then kicked off one of my favorite things to do at the airport, Lounge hopping, that is, jumping from one lounge to another.

The oddity is that although there are as many as 4 waiting lounges of OneWorld companies in Singapore's Terminal 1, Finnair invites elite passengers to visiting the Maharaba Lounge, probably the worst of the waiting rooms in the entire terminal.

We headed to the one that is absolutely Qatar's best lounge in the terminal, the reason is simple inside the world's number one company has a real restaurant and we We wanted to treat ourselves to one last dinner in memory of this trip.

We were welcomed like VIPs, even though we were flying Finnair and of course we were not told anything with respect to the different lounge where we were supposed to go, the Finnish carrier being a OneWorld member, and us being business class passengers, we were escorted first to the lounge area and then handed over to second assistant who escorted us to our table for dinner.

After a fantastic dinner, which in a restaurant in S'pore would not have cost us less than 300SGD we headed to the second room of our tour: the Qantas business class lounge.

We actually stopped here just long enough for coffee and a trip to the bathroom; of the 4 accessible lounges, this one is definitely the least interesting.

A few steps and from Australia we ended up in London. In the British Airways lounge there is finally a return to precovid service, although the mode of operation invented in the pandemic period has been retained. This means that there is a full buffet again, but you can still order via QR as well and be served at the table.

After sipping a glass of champagne and scrounging a few packets of chips, we headed for the last stop on our tour around the world.

We started in Qatar, went to Australia and then took the cangaroo route to London and back, as we the last stop was in the First Class lounge, also by Qantas.

TFCanswers: What are the rules for entering lounges.

This lounge is not accessible simply by flying business class, but you must have at least the level equivalent to Emerald in one of the OneWorld loyalty programs. In my case being Gold British Airways I had access to this lounge.

Upon entry rightly the lounge staff pointed out to me that my boarding pass, however, had Sapphire status, which is one step below Emerald. Problem solved by showing the card via BA's app.

This lounge also features a restaurant, complete with a paper menu, obviously we had no room for a second dinner and limited ourselves to a glass of Taittinger and relaxed while waiting to head to the gate.

Our flight departed from gate D47, practically at the far end of the terminal, we arrived when the monitors already marked "gate open," but as written above it is a result of the different operation of airports in this part of the world.

Having to go through security checks, the gate opens much earlier than when boarding opens, precisely because passengers have to go through the scanners and check their luggage.

Having passed the controls, one then waits for boarding to begin. Usually at this stage all passengers are seated in one group, but instead Finnair reserves a small area for guests with Priority tickets, a small attention that not all carriers have in these situations.

On board

Embarkation opened on time, with passengers asked to stand up by groups. Since there is no way of knowing which planes have the new layout the disappointment of finding out that we would be traveling in the old cabin came as soon as we emerged from Door 1.

The cabin was not blue, but ice-colored. No new business class, just the albeit beautiful, old business class cabin that is set to disappear in the coming years as all aircraft in the fleet will be refitted.

Finnair's long-haul fleet consists of only A350/900 and already that is a guarantee, it's just too bad that the old business class, which is still better than many other products, has been superseded by the new one and now seems to be from an earlier geological era.

This booth, with 1-2-1 setup, where all passengers have direct access to the aisle Is better than Lufthansa's current business class, of many Air France and KLM aircraft, not to mention the old British Airways business class, But in my opinion also of Emirates business class which on a great many aircraft still proposes a 2-3-2 configuration.

My chair was 5A, unless there were obvious differences, such as on Singapore's business class, I always try to choose armchairs in the middle of the cabin. Away from the areas where the kitchens and bathrooms are located, thus the noisiest or where there is constant coming and going

The chair is the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond, the same model that is found for example on ITA Airways' business class, British Airways, Saudia and a host of other carriers. Sure this is in the very first version, from 2016 to now it has had significant improvements as it should.

Seats near the windows face outward from the aircraft, while The two central seats are oriented toward the center of the fuselage.

There is no door, such as in BA's new business class, but the seats are misaligned so you still have a little extra privacy.

With this configuration there is not a lot of legroom, but it is greater than other configurations where the chairs are alternately checkerboarded.

Also convenient is the fact that Finnair has concentrated all the functions and outlets in the wall of the seat structure. There is a headphone jack, I of course always use my bluetooth adapter, a USB jack, a power outlet. The control pad to operate the seat and the entertainment system controller. Finally there is a small light for reading a book without turning on the light above the seat.

The table comes out of the console, is quite rigid but once extended does not slide in any direction. Therefore impossible to change the position, move it closer or farther away. Too bad.

What is missing in this configuration are the closets, or spaces where personal items can be stored. In later versions of this armchair, these were created under the console table by moving the small table under the TV.

There is a small cockpit in the armrest, an armrest which, however, being split in two makes the cockpit really not very usable, let's say it is equivalent to a pocket or so.

There is then a space in the console to hang headphones.

Just no more space, unless you want to share the leg space with a bag.

Or you have to be ingenious and use the magazine holder as a pc holder, but it's not exactly the best

Also the table available is not very large, the evolution of this chair over the years has been very important, and today the same set-up on British or ITA give a much better and less sacrificed feel.

Basically, you only have the hat box for storing your belongings, which is decidedly uncomfortable if you want to keep a book, pc charger, or cords to charge your cell phone handy for a 12-hour trip.

Last negative note is the lack of personal air vents, I just don't understand why carriers don't install them in many premium cabins.

Business passengers have two toilets at the front of the plane, and as per tradition on A350s there is also a windowed toilet :-).

The seat obviously becomes a bed, certainly the configuration of this cabin that forces passengers to sleep with their heads always on the aisle side is not the best. Without the door there is less privacy and more noise.

Fortunately, legroom is not sacrificed compared to other configurations, even for people over 6 feet.

Late departure

Once on board, however, we were forced to wait more than 40 minutes before taking off, the reason being airport traffic, also a sign that we are back to the "world of before" with skies full of planes and congested airports.

The pilot briefed the passengers a couple of times during the wait and also anticipated that due to a strong headwind in the opposite direction our flight would last just under 14 hours, also due to the elongation due to the airspace closures in Russia and Ukraine that severely affected carriers around the world primarily Finnair which used to boast with its Helsinki base that it had the fastest route to Asia and now finds itself having to take longer and more expensive routes instead.

Service

The nice thing was that we were greeted by the same cabin manager from the outbound flight, what I called Epic Fail, he had been really TOP. Chatting with him we found out that the staff is based in Singapore and then leaves from Asia to make the journey to Finland and back and not vice versa as is usually the case.

Having crews based at airports around the world allows companies to better manage staff rotations, reduce travel costs, and have backups in case of defections or last-minute problems.

Similarly, better service is provided to regular travelers on the line who can thus find themselves with familiar faces on board.

I was disappointed with the comfort kit distributed by Finnair. First of all the beauty kit, it is the same as the one given to premium economy guests, really unacceptable. If for PE it is a more than good kit for a business class it is one of the worst I have seen lately.

Face mask, toothbrush, earplugs and face/mouth cream. That's it. In fact compared to PE passengers, which is not present on this configuration of the A350, in business class you only get slippers.

Even the night kit is kept to a minimum, a blanket not a comforter as other carriers give, but fortunately the temperature on board is higher than elsewhere and a cushion.

Food & Beverage

While waiting for takeoff orders were taken, this is an overnight flight you take off at 11 p.m. local time and land at 6 a.m. Helsinki, dinner and breakfast are then served.

Immediately after takeoff, the classic hot towel was distributed to wipe hands.

At the level of gastronomic proposal, we are not quite there. The menu has two appetizers, fixed you cannot choose anything but the main course, we had three choices: chicken with yellow rice and beans, beer-battered veal ribs and ravioli with mascarpone filling.

Everything, dessert aside, is served in a single tray. An economy rather than business class perception. Also, the service is very slow, and on an overnight flight it makes so much difference since you want to eat quickly and then sleep to arrive rested at your destination.

To conclude a service, which is not unforgettable, there is then the fact that it is cleared of everything, tablecloth included and the dessert is then served directly on the coffee table with the spoon balanced on the china, really an incomprehensible choice.

The amazing thing is that the service is handled by two different zones, the last three rows are handled by the middle galley, while the first 5 rows are handled by the front galley. The result is that to me in row 5 the aperitif peanuts were served when Marika, in row 6, was already finishing her very good beer ribs.

There is a decent wine list with even a Sangiovese among the choices and a long list of cocktails and spirits.

As there was no space for a gallery where to go to retrieve snacks during the flight, the crew came by several times offering various snacks and sweets directly to the seat as well as drinks.

About two hours after arriving in Helsinki, breakfast was served, partly because we land at 6 a.m. local time.

The small tray has everything; it's like a buffet summed up in 30 seconds. From sweet to savory, vegetarian to healthy. No choice, take it or leave it.

IFE

Here of course the difference with Finnair's new proposal is like between day and night.

Monitor that comes out of the seat structure in front, but which unlike other carriers the crew does not ask to keep closed during takeoff phases, the flaw of not being able to take advantage of the system until cruise altitude has been reached is thus eliminated.

The headsets are the same as those given to premium economy passengers, and even that is a middle ground that does not make the business experience at 100%.

The offerings are quite varied with over 150 movies and about 50 TV episodes and various series, counting Finnair content as well. There is no Kids section, but an ad hoc category in movies. The choice of Italian-language content is also rich. Of course it's not a 4k screen, but it's still passable. There are no live TV channels, and the games are not the latest generation.

Fortunately, there is wi-fi. The cost is not per traffic, but per time. Bravo AY. The whole flight costs 24.95€ and considering it is almost 14 hours it is a very fair price, much cheaper than 7.95€ for one hour or 14.95 for 180 minutes.

Finnair also gives away 1h to all business class passengers, while status holders get free connection for the entire flight.

In conclusion

Of course I spent 1€ + taxes to fly from Milan to Singapore and back, e so I can only say thank you to Finnair for honoring this reservation made in October 2019 And allowing me to change the whole itinerary, certain is that appetite comes with eating, and so the idea of being able to travel in the new business class was quite appealing to me. It will be for the next time.

The onboard experience, however, did not convince me. The beauty kit is too cheap, the service with a single tray, little choice and lack of attention to detail does not make the passenger feel pampered as they should.

The seat is good, but the personal space is small. Some things of course are different on the new A350s, others like dining should be the same, so definitely to be improved.

The verdict

The final grade gets 1 extra point because Finnair honored an error fare of 2019 by allowing me to change routes whenever a flight was canceled. Otherwise, however, the experience would not reach sufficiency. The seat is good, but it is too basic. The service is premium, not business.

6.5

Service

5.5

IFE

5.5

F&B

5

Cabin and Armchair

6

Pro

• The price
• Wifi

Against

• Service
• Amenity kit
• Catering
• IFE