[MarcusUK]

Thanks Simon.

I rarely fly with one World Airlines, as simply i cant spread my loyalty across all 3 Groups, but keep Gold cards in Skyteam & Star, as well as Virgin & Etihad.
The fares are very good with Finair for sure…was thinking to travel to Australia but make 2 separate bookings LHR-Asia, then down from there, as it always makes easier & different stopovers if i want.

Interestingly KLM still have their MD11’s running, & haven’t replaced hem with any 777 options, even having renewed %50 of the fleet in the last 5 yrs. they have re-fitted them.
I will certainly check Finair out on the seats on line.
At the moment, Airlines are not discounting much into 2010 for premium seats, but the odd fare comes up to Sydney at £1800 Business (MH, EY, EK SQ).
So perhaps finding a good value fare to asia with Finair is one option & down from there. Cheers.

[SarahGormley]

Senator

Yes that’s right a brand new business class lounge and spa has been opened at Helsinki airport . There are 4 different types of sauna and a jacuzzi with runway views. The new lounge is also uber-stylish with all the latest technologies for business passengers.

When you have a choice of spending several hours dragging suitcases in between terminals at some European hubs or transiting through Helsinki and spending a few hours in a spa I know which option I’d choose!

Finnair have taken delivery of several new A330s with fully lie flat beds and these apparently serve the NYC, Delhi, Nagoya and Osaka routes. They are due to take delivery of another this month but I’m not sure what route this will serve.

[FinnFlyer]

Finnair A330 new lieflats begin appearing in January, please check:
http://newsletter.finnair.com/publish/news/tiedotus/20091217/775/

Very little info available on routes etc. and if and when other planes are to be refitted.

[Hess963]

Hi everyone !!

Congratulations AY !! The new seat in your 5th A330 is the right decision. It is not only full flat–now you give the premium pax the feeling of exclusivity in some seats( having both aisle and window seat ). I think it is the best C class seat in its category comparing to all Oneworld partners. This will definitely help me consider AY as alternative for my flights to Asia. The transit will definitely be more comfortable and relaxing with the new spa. Let us hope AY will change the other 4 previous aircrafts to this new seatings or at least make those C seats to full flat. I know those Recaro seats are capable of being full flat–it is just the matter of wanting it or not.

[Senator]

Hi,

I will be testing the LX version of this seat on the ZRH-JFK flight in a couple of days.

It would be great if BT could contact AY to get some feedback on if/when AY will retro-fit cabin.

[travelwell]

hi i am flying LHR to HEL then on to PEK (beijing) i am being told that the aircraft is an A340, does anyone know if these have the flat bed seats or the lie-flat seat which are angled ? anyone flown this route and can comment on the service and seats ? thanks

[SimonRowberry]

Hi Travelwell,

Last time I flew that route it was an MD11. However, I understand the roll-out of the new seats is fairly slow. It may be worth you giving AY Reservations a call and asking them – I would just add that AY do have a tendency to change aircraft at the last minute, so there probably won’t be any guarantees.

If you do get the new lie-flats, I’d be fascinated to know what you think of them.

I tried the new Via Lounge and Spa at HEL a couple of weeks ago – absolutely excellent.

Have a safe and fun journey!

Simon

[Hess963]

Hi everyone !!

The A340 has the lie flat angled seat from Recaro. I tried the A330 from HEL to SEL–same seatings like LX. Service is par–nothing special and not so attentive. Both inbound and outbound are on time inspite of snow and very cold temperature in HEL and ICN. NO LHR-Delays-Trauma here at all ! Food&Beverage are par. Nice seatings especially if you have the single seat with both window and aisle–great individual feeling of freedom to do what you want–without disturbing any neighbour. Spa in HEL–just great and definitely recommendable. The only gripe–the European leg from LHR-HEL: seat is in my opinion uncomfortable for such journey time( I think I am just pampered and gotten used to CX, TG and SQ regional C seatings with more space for such short haul flights), Food quality here is par, but the quantity is still mingy.

As I am a” full flat bed fan “–the new seatings is a winner ! I think with service and food&beverage–it is just not so good comparing to CX and yes, even against BA this time !!

[SimonRowberry]

Hi Hess,

Glad you generally enjoyed it. I also agree with you re the LHR-HEL leg.

Good job you didn’t say you were “A full flat bed pan”!

(For our non-UK readers, a bed pan was the implement used in times now long gone when people didn’t have indoor toilets and didn’t want to go out at night….it kind of loses its edge when you have to explain it!).

Regards,

Simon

[Hess963]

Hi Simon !

Good quote !! ; O ) As I have said–AY is on the right road here–they just have to polish their soft wares ! European leg should be improved, otherwise , in my opinion, it won’t be that interesting to transit via HEL, beside the great fare promos from time to time. As I am now Oneworld Emerald–I will certainly try to fly as often as I can with a Oneworld carrier. HEL is a great hub and a good transit alternative to Asia and North America. The Spa just made it more comfortable

[SimonRowberry]

Hi again, Hess

I agree with you completely re the AY short-haul product, as it does reduce the attractiveness of trying HEL as a Gateway.

However, it’s good to hear positive vibes from someone who’s tried HEL as a transit point to Asia. It IS excellent, and it got a lot better in December with the non-Schengen extension complete with the Via Lounge and Spa.

I’m sure my old friend Krug will chip in with something perjorative and negative about the AY baggage handlers at HEL. I’ll get my retaliation in first by stating the bleedin’ obvious – labour disputes are temporary (by their very nature). However, an excellent airport infrastructure, great ambience, relaxed atmosphere, efficient running and the ability to cope with whatever the weather throws at it (all of which HEL has) are permanent. They are also not easy to achieve in the first place!

All the best,

Simon

[IanFromHKG]

Does anyone know when (or whether) they will introduce the flatbed business seats on the HEL-HKG route? Their fares are very competitive to Europe from HKG but I am only interested in using them if the seats are flatbed, but I haven’t been able to find any information. I did find somewhere a timetable for its introduction but it didn’t include HKG:
OH-LTM March, first flight New York 6 April
OH-LTN April, first flight Delhi 1 May
OH-LTO May, first flight Delhi 20 May
OH-LTP June, first flight* Osaka July
OH-LTR November
OH-LTS January/2010
OH-LTT February/2010
OH-LTU April/2010

Any help much appreciated! Incidentally, I haven’t been able to find a seatplan for the new configuration anywhere – seatplans.com, seatguru.com, finnair.com…

[UpandAway]

@HKGIAN

Not sure, but you can use the CX/AY codeshare via BKK to get yourself on the flat bed. The connection time is a bit lengthy but worth it if you want to save money compared to BA/CX/VS/NZ pricing.

[FinnFlyer]

FYI: All the six A340’s are with the older lie flat angled seats, there are now 8 A330’s in their fleet and four of them (OH-LTM/LTN/LTO/LTP) are with the older lie flat angled seats and only the newest four (OH-LTR/LTS/LTT/LTU) are with the new fully flat bed seats. There hasn’t been any news on updating the others witrh fully flat seats, it seems it will take a very long time ti update them, if ever, maybe they are just waiting for the deliveries of the A350XWB’s starting maybe 2014. This of course is very frustrating.

[Deleted User]

FinnFlyer – when I wrote my praise about Finnair on another thread, I recall the Finnair web site confirming at the time (although I have no screen shot) that ALL of Finnair’s A330 had the new business class seat and this was reflected in my report.

Your report confirms that 4 of Finnairs A330’s have the old style seat (and this is now supported by the serating plans on the Finnair Website. I had assumed, incorrectly it now seems that all the BKK sector A330’s have the new seating.

Thanks for your post, any further comments would be appreciated.

[Author]

Posts