Ultimate Finnair Business Class Review: Helsinki to Rovaniemi (Finnish Lapland) - A First-Time Experience
When I started looking to book our trip to Finland, the obvious choice was Finnair – not only because they seemed to be the only full-service scheduled airline with Business class from Edinburgh to Finland’s capital Helsinki, but also that it was an airline I have wanted to experience for some time now, and this was the perfect opportunity.
I wanted to visit both Helsinki and Rovaniemi (the nearest airport for Finnish Lapland and the hotel I really wanted to visit – the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel) so on checking connecting flights with Finnair, we opted to fly direct from Edinburgh to Helsinki on the outbound, and then I found a good connection on the return from Rovaniemi to Edinburgh via Helsinki. The only downside was that there wasn’t a Business class option on the RVN-HEL route.
I wanted to spend a few days in Helsinki at least, before travelling up to the north of Finland for Lapland (Rovaniemi) and while I had looked again at flying with Finnair, I also love to travel by train and the option to take one of their overnight trains (schedule 12 hours) so we decided we would do that leg by train. I’ll post a separate blog of this journey, but despite the length, it was a great experience (upstairs double bunk cabin with en-suite shower, WHB and toilet) and I’m really pleased we did that, already having booked three Finnair flights.
Finnair Business Class
Fast Facts about Finnair
Website - https://www.finnair.com/gb-en
Skytrax ranking - 4 Star
Instagram - @feelfinnair @oneworld
Flights - (1) EDI - HEL AY1372 (2) RVN - HEL AY534 (3) HEL - EDI AY1373
Scheduled times - (1) 2hr 30 mins (2) 1hr 20 mins (3) 2hr 55 mins
Actual times - (1) 2hr 19 mins (2) 1hr (3) 2hr 31 mins
Aircraft - (1) Airbus A320-214 (OH-LXA) 23 years old (2) Airbus A321-232 (OH-LXZP) 6 years old (3) Embraer E190LR (OH-LXM) 16 years old
Flew - March 2024
Finnair plane through windows at Rovaniemi Airport Lapland
Index
Pre-trip / Booking
Departure / Check-In
Airport Lounges
Boarding the Flight
In Flight
Welcome
The Seat
Washbag (none)
Food and Drink
IFE (In Flight Entertainment)
On Board WiFi
ThePrivateTraveller’s absolute highlights
ThePrivateTraveller’s top tips (any areas for improvement?)
Would I fly Finnair again?
My Final Thoughts on the Flight
Pre-trip & Booking
As above, when trying to work out the airline, routes, and timing that would best suit our proposed travel plans; it was obvious that Finnair was the way to go. It was really easy to find the best flights and connections roughly around the time we wanted to go, and we opted for an early(ish) morning flight on the Sunday morning, with a return on the Monday. Getting the options (which did vary day by day) was exceptionally straightforward online and I made the bookings with ease. Once done, accessing these through the Finnair app was a breeze, as was adding all the additional passenger information needed to complete check-in, and secure our boarding passes through the app. There were frequent (and well timed, though not excessive) email reminders, but overall the booking experience was exemplary.
Two Finnair planes on the runway at Helsinki Airport
Departure / Check-In
When we entered the (Edinburgh) airport, we could see that Finnair was checking in at Zone B, next to British Airways. There was a general queue signed for Finnair, with two actual check-in desks side on the end of that queue so it wasn’t clear what signage there was there for any priority or business class. I had to ask an airport worker if there was a priority queue, and he indicated an un-signposted queue adjacent to the main queue. At the bottom of that lane, one of the check-in desks was a sign indicating economy only, and no signs for business class. It was slightly awkward as then there was the end of the very long economy queue trying to merge in with anyone waiting in the priority queue. The agent on the end desk did serve us next, but there was nothing very clear about the process, albeit once she started checking us in it was quick, efficient, and very professional but friendly.
At Rovaniemi airport (the official home airport of Santa Claus), which is quite small and there are only a few flights per day (probably way more in the peak Christmas season), we were checked in quite quickly. What was a bit annoying, as although there was only economy on this flight (which ended up being extremely busy) and actually a similar aircraft that we’d flown to Helsinki on (with a business class configuration), there were two economy check in desks and one priority queue. Despite there being an airport representative seated at the priority desk, when we were only a few feet away from the desk he stuck a ‘Closed’ sign on the desk. That said, it didn’t take too long to join the general queue and our bags were checked all the way through in only a few minutes.
Rovaniemi Airport runway from the sky
Airport Lounges
Although flying business class, it seemed like lounge access was not included, certainly at Edinburgh Airport. I asked at check-in whether it was the British Airways / OneWorld lounge we would use, and she agreed it would be if we had access through our BA Gold / OneWorld Emerald cards. Although a bit of a slower entrance at the lounge, which has become very familiar to us flying BA a lot, we had to actually show our BA cards (available through the BA app if you don’t have a physical card now) and get all details added onto a Finnair sheet manually.
Once in though, the lounge is good, having recently undergone a refresh - wouldn’t quite say refurbishment as it’s basically the same as before but with newer furniture and new decorations etc. Our flight was due to depart at 08:45, but while we were in the lounge we received a text from Finnair announcing a 45 minute delay. There was everything we could need there, a very decent breakfast selection, self-service drinks and snacks, and good Wi-Fi too.
We weren’t surprised, but there was no lounge at Rovaniemi airport, and with it being a small (ish) airport and not having to have checked in two hours before, we had a quick drink at an airport café and it wasn’t long before we were able to board
The lounge at Helsinki was something else – in our terminal there seemed to be two lounge options, the Finnair lounge and a Plaza Premium. The Finnair lounge was near to our departing gate (43) and with almost an hour until boarding for our connecting flight, we went to have a look which would be my first Finnair lounge experience, Edinburgh having been OneWorld/BA designated. Once inside, it was clear that this was very new and after having scanned our boarding passes at the desk (there were automated barriers too) we were directed to the left and the Platinum Wing. The other side was the Business Class lounge. One thing to note is that while the main lounge is open 6am through midnight, the Platinum Wing seems to have restricted hours of only 10:30am to 5:30pm.
The lounge throughout was extremely well designed and laid out, very simple but elegant design (as you expect being Finnish) and it had everything we could possibly need for such a short stay, and indeed we would have liked to have stayed much longer. There was a very stylish full bar near the entrance, with a very friendly attendant who acknowledged our entry straight away which was lovely. Next to this were the facilities of mens/womens toilets, shower cubicles (which you could book yourself from a touchscreen at the entrance) and changing rooms. All were the same elegant design, beautifully presented and extremely well maintained in terms of cleanliness. There were lots of different types of seating throughout, and a really nice dining area towards the back. Here there were several food options you could order freshly made from a menu, or there was also a buffet selection too. Not wanting a full meal, we just helped ourselves to some soup with fresh focaccia breads, were served drinks at the table, then finished off with some delicious (mini) pink-iced jam doughnuts and mini macarons of various flavours.
Boarding
Boarding for the Helsinki flight was from a gate not near to the BA OneWorld lounge, and always what seems like an airport corridor. That said, they were efficient on boarding at the announced time, as was the same with pretty much every flight.
Gate 2 from Rovaniemi was the departure point, not the biggest airport as I’ve said, and slightly more frenetic than Edinburgh or what Helsinki would be like, perhaps because it was a big flight and all economy seats used.
Gate 43 Helsinki was the best of the lot, very quiet and spacious, with very clear boarding areas and stylish as was the rest of the airport overall. Right on the scheduled boarding time of 4:15pm (for the 4:45pm departure flight) after an initial pre-board, boarding for groups 1 and 2 were announced together. I always like to get on board first and hope that there isn’t a sea of people behind me, because (as much as it seems to annoy and frustrate “Mrs” TPT) for any new airline or aircraft I love to have the time and space to take photographs. Although we were the second and third passengers on board, as there was a delay on getting onto the aircraft, there was quite a build-up of passengers behind us and there wasn’t any chance to get some photography done – ideally, I prefer this to be without passengers in the photos!
Priority boarding was honoured on each flight, albeit they seemed to group 1 and 2 together rather than the pre-announced order of Group 1 then 2. Boarding didn’t seem to be as frenetic as it seems to be on British Airways.
In Flight
I’ve broken down the key components of the flight and services offered, sharing my opinion on them below:
Welcome
We had a really decent welcome on all flights, all staff seemed (in the main very efficient and friendly) and all spoke perfect English.
The Seat(s)
In business class there were seven rows in a 2-2 configuration (or really 3-3 with the middle seats blocked), reasonably comfortable but of course the aircraft was quite old and certainly wasn’t the newest of seats.
From Rovaniemi, it was standard economy class throughout (in a 3-3 configuration) but I only found out afterwards by using my FlightRadar24 app that this was actually a similar aircraft as we’d flown from Edinburgh to Helsinki – the difference was that they weren’t adopting the blocked middle seat as we had before, and although I’d thought about buying an extra seat to block 1E, it was quite an expensive flight even for economy so I was banking on no one choosing a middle seat. As it turned out, and it wasn’t bad, the flight was full and indeed we did have a random man sitting in between us.
On the last leg, the aircraft was small (and while newer – 16 years old vs 22!) with it being an Embraer ERJ-190 it was quite compact. This was a (proper) 2-2 configuration, with only three rows for Business Class. It wasn’t full this time, with 8 passengers out of a maximum 12. Leg room was ok and it was good having the front row (1D & 1F), the only issue was trying to eat together and elbow room!
Food & Drink
Surprisingly for a relatively short flight (schedule was just 1hr 20min) we were given a menu card with a choice of food (for “Mrs” TPT, mine already having been selected for a vegetarian option). There was a choice of drinks after take off (loving the local Kryo gin) then the meal service. All was really well presented, on the first flight we had a breakfast – mine was hash browns (2), with some tomatoey sauce, spinach, and an unidentifiable mound of something else. There was a small salad too (feta cheese, lettuce, cucumber, a tomato, pickles and peppers), a bread roll, fresh fruit, marmalade, and margarine spread (why do airlines never give butter to a vegetarian choosing a lacto-ovo meal?).
On the Rovaniemi to Helsinki flight, the extent of the in-flight catering (other than paid for options through the in-seat menu card) was either complimentary mineral water or blueberry juice. I could have pre-ordered something, but knowing this was a short flight and that there would be a full catering service on our onward flight from Helsinki, we just opted for a drink.
On the return leg to Edinburgh, after the hot towel service after take-off (not as scalding as they had been going to Helsinki), there was a drinks service (with all the menu options available complimentary in Business class) followed by a meal. This was again nicely presented (and my pre-ordered vegetarian readily available) with glassware, and the option of another drink and an extra fresh bread choice. My initial tray had come with some sort of a pasta dish in an oniony/peppery/tomato type sauce, a pre-packed wholemeal bread roll, a mini salad with the evil that was some grilled tofu (not a fan as you might guess, even for a vegetarian) and a chocolate bar (milk). We’d only been left a 100% recycled plastic bottle of mineral water on boarding, celebrating the 100 years of Finnair (also represented on the seat head-rest covers).
IFE (In Flight Entertainment)
On no flight were there any in-seat screens, I guess with the aircraft being of the age they were and I’m not sure they were ever retro-fitted since, but I assume when Wi-Fi is on board there was streaming options available. I tended to use the Wi-Fi to work on travel blogs, and none of the flights were long enough really to have merited a movie. I’ll wait for this until we fly Finnair long-haul, which I definitely want to do.
On Board Wi-Fi
To test it out, I’d prepaid for Wi-Fi (for the whole flight throughout) on the initial EDI-HEL flight, thinking I would also test out buying this at the time on the return. As it turned out, there was no Wi-Fi available on the final leg HEL-EDI, but there was (not surprisingly as same aircraft) RVN-HEL. When travelling business class, you seem to be given 30 minutes free regardless, just by adding your seat number and passenger name (one device only). I wasn’t sure how it was going to work with my having prepaid this, but again it was the same – once connected to the Nordic Sky in-flight service, I just had to add my seat number and name. I could have cheekily ‘stolen’ “Mrs’ ThePrivateTraveller’s free 30 minutes for another device, as he tends not to use Wi-Fi in flight preferring either his trusty Kindle (which he didn’t actually want until I bought him one as a gift – now COMPLETE convert) or a word game on the phone.
The Private Traveller’s Absolute Highlights
I was so impressed by Finnair, as I expected to be, so here are just a few of the highlights:
Butaki was great on the initial EDI-HEL flight – friendly, attentive, and welcoming.
Loved the Finnair lounge at Helsinki – so elegant and stylish, and fantastic facilities and service.
Using Marimekko (classic Finnish design) throughout, like the napkins in flight and in the lounge, teapots etc.
Seeing local spirits on board like the great selection of Kyro gin, vodka, and malt rye whisky; and it was great having the mini bottle (20cl) of Bernard-Massard Cuvée de l’Ecusson sparkling wine – for an earlyish morning bucks’ fizz on the outbound flight.
Really nice to see the use of glassware throughout – little mini glasses on board in a stylish design, which was replicated (in larger form) in the Finnair lounge.
The app was really good – we were able to keep track of all our flights really easily, check-in with no problem with boarding passes downloadable to our Apple Wallet, and easy to add
The Private Traveller’s Top Tips (Areas for improvement)
Whenever I take a flight, I do always like to look on the positives on the airlines we fly with etc. but sometimes you can’t help but notice things that (for me, but I realise this is always personal) might have made for a better trip. If I am aware of anything, I will share them here.
Check in could have been much clearer for Business Class / Priority customers - there was no differentiator as to where to queue, and it was only by asking an airport representative that we were pointed to a side queue.
Again, check in at RVN was a bit disappointing with there being a Priority desk, and an attendant at it, but literally having the closed sign put up right in front of us.
Would love to experience newer aircraft – the youngest on these routes was 16 years, and the Embraer was quite limited for elbow room on the return leg.
While safety seemed prevalent throughout, and all crew really efficient, it was very evident that despite being in row 1, the man that joined us in the middle seat just kept his bag on the floor just behind his feet. On take-off, I don’t think the crew had noticed (and I’m sure all floor area must be clear there), but on landing the crew member clearly saw it was there as he was putting his headphones back into it, she looked and then just didn’t say anything, which was a bit worrying. There also didn’t appear to be any seat belt check on landing either.
Would I fly Finnair again?
Yes, absolutely. This was the first time I had, and overall an amazing experience that I would love to repeat. It would be great to try newer aircraft on perhaps longer haul routes.
Finnair in flight above the clouds
My final thoughts on the flight
First time experience of Finnair and it was great – I definitely want to book Finnair again and we saw this as a great option for us flying from Edinburgh to Helsinki and beyond, as potentially an alternative to our (mainstay) OneWorld BA via London or Qatar via Doha. While our business class experience was probably slightly “muted” being short-haul and only available on two of our three flights this trip (one of them being operated under NORRA – Nordic Regional Airlines), it would be amazing to try out the full Business class long-haul service. With the amazing Finnair lounge in Helsinki and easy connections/transfers, this is a must do for us in the future on a long-haul destination. The Finnish service from the crew was great throughout, and all made for a really decent travel experience.
I hope this review has been helpful, if so please like and comment or let me know if you think this is either too detailed, just right, or not detailed enough! Also, let me know what you think of my other airlines reviews.
Have you ever flown with Finnair, if so, what was your experience?
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