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Home » Finnair » First Impressions: Finnair A350 Business Class
Finnair

First Impressions: Finnair A350 Business Class

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 4, 2025March 4, 2025 12 Comments

a white airplane on the tarmac

From Amsterdam to Helsinki I flew on a Finnair A350-900 in business class, my first time flying the Finnair A350 since the premium cabin was retrofitted with new seats….that don’t actually recline.

Finnair A350 Business Class – My First Impressions

I flew on a Finnair A350-900 in business class several years ago from Helsinki to Beijing and thought the reverse herringbone seats were excellent…even today those seats are highly competitive. But Finnair went in a different direction and retrofitted its entire A330 and A350 fleet with a unique seat that’s more like a couch. And of course, couches do not recline…neither does the new seat. It’s quite spacious though, and while sleeping on a couch may conjure up images of college students or martial strife, Finnair has done an excellent job of creating a unique product that is comfortable in the lie-flat position.

But before we get onboard, I encountered a delay…a creeping delay due to a late arrival of the A350 from Helsinki. I was tracking the aircraft on FlightAware so I knew what was going on, but no one else did. The flight still showed “on time” even after our official departure time approached and the contracted gate agents did not even bother to show up early to keep passengers informed.

We ended up boarding about an hour late and taking off close to two hours late…which meant my 90 minute connection was in great danger.

a group of people standing next to an airplane
The plane finally arrived an hour late…

Onboard, the cabin was lightly filled (it is unclear to me why Finnair runs the A350 between HEL and AMS every day) and I settled into my seat for the two-hour flight to Helsinki.

The flight attendants on board were very seasoned…and very lovely. Mature women who loved their job and were very hospitable and friendly.

As you can see, the seat is very spacious and the cabin is attractive.

a person standing in a row of seats with monitors on the side

a plane with rows of seats

a row of seats on an airplane

a seat with a pillow and a table on the side
I chose a center seat for this segment, with a window seat assigned on the next leg from HEL-LAX on the same aircraft, but ended up moving to a window after takeoff.

a man taking a selfie

a person's legs in a seat with socks
Delta socks…

(I’ll share more about the particulars of the seat and IFE in my full review)

Lunch was served after takeoff: I had pre-ordered a mushroom risotto dish and it was served with a side of beet hummus and dark bread. Delicious!

a tray with food on it

Dessert was also a treat: it was korvapuusti (I use the Swedish word kanelbullar, but think of a cinnamon roll with cardamom). I had enough coffee on the ground, so I had herbal tea with it.

a pastry and a cup of tea

I was looking forward to a smooth connection home to Los Angeles on another A350-900, but that did not work out according to plan…stay tuned.

a screen on a plane
8-minute connection…will I make it?

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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12 Comments

  1. David H Reply
    March 4, 2025 at 12:49 pm

    You’re SO HANDSOME in that photo. I’m dying!!!

    • Clanger Reply
      March 5, 2025 at 9:55 am

      He is dreamy!

    • emercycrite Reply
      March 6, 2025 at 1:49 am

      He’s by far the hottest travel blogger around. And with a bod to match too.

  2. GUWonder Reply
    March 4, 2025 at 1:50 pm

    A cinnamon roll with cardamom? Then it’s more typically called a kardemummabullar — distinct from kanelbullar — by Swedes and Finnish Swedes. The former includes cardamom and cinnamon while the latter typically excludes cardamom.

  3. GUWonder Reply
    March 4, 2025 at 1:55 pm

    You arrived into HEL late and misconnected to AY1 which doesn’t run daily?

    Congrats on the €600 + free paid stopover, and hopefully it didn’t mess up other travel and business.

  4. Daniel B. Reply
    March 4, 2025 at 2:03 pm

    “martial” strife? Subconscious or deliberate spelling 🙂 ?

  5. Pete Reply
    March 4, 2025 at 2:44 pm

    I guess they run the A350 to AMS, LHR, etc, instead of having them sit on the ground at HEL all day after their return from North America and Asia. There’s probably also a lot of profitable cargo traffic. The short turnaround trips also help with keeping the pilot’s takeoff/landing skills sharp, and gives them a chance to add some extras to their log books.

  6. Nik Reply
    March 5, 2025 at 5:09 am

    Let me take a guess, rebooked on ay 15 to JFK and AA back to LAX (That’s literally the only oneworld option that gets you in that day and you probably could have pushed for it)

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 5, 2025 at 8:41 am

      Perceptive. 😉

  7. Cam Reply
    March 5, 2025 at 10:52 am

    Well, you had a taste, I guess.

    The cabin looks very nice but also oddly sterile.

  8. Marv Reply
    March 6, 2025 at 12:25 pm

    Cabin looks like the inside of a 1970s van. It screams Scooby Doo’s mystery machine. European carriers are pathetic vs their Asian counterparts.

  9. Franco Manni Reply
    March 7, 2025 at 12:17 am

    Is this company woke? re there diverse inclusive female pilots driving the aircraft?

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