Finnair Upgrades Long-Haul Travel Experience; Adds Premium Economy Class Cabin

(11 Feb 2022)  Finnair unveiled its new long-haul cabin on Thursday.

The Finnish flag carrier’s 200 million-Euro investment covers all the airline’s Airbus A350 and A330 long-haul aircraft, with new cabins to be fitted over the next two years, featuring an entirely new Business Class, a brand-new Premium Economy cabin and a refreshed Economy Class.

The full experience, complete with renewed service concepts, will be available in spring 2022 on select routes across Finnair’s long-haul network.

Finnair has said that it will confirm the routes on 1 March 2022.

“Our investment to enhance the long-haul customer experience demonstrates the continuing commitment of the whole Finnair team to deliver a premium experience in every cabin on our aircraft,” said Topi Manner, Finnair CEO. “The pandemic has had a dramatic impact on our industry, but it has not changed our ambition to offer a modern premium experience as we continue to be the first choice for travellers connecting Europe and Asia.”

Finnair's new long-haul Business Class

Finnair is the launch customer for new Business Class seats, developed in close collaboration with Collins Aerospace. The fixed shell space is designed to enable a wide variety of sitting and sleeping positions.

Ole Orvér, Finnair Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Space is today’s luxury, and we have put a lot of thought and attention to detail into creating the best Business Class seat for our customers. Both the seat and the whole Business Class experience is centered around customer comfort, space, and choice and is the culmination of our design ethos which will appear throughout our long-haul aircraft to redefine modern premium travel. We look forward to welcoming our customers to experience the new Finnair, as we roll out the cabin renewal across our long-haul fleet over the next two years.”

Finnair’s new Premium Economy cabin is being installed in all its long-haul aircraft for the first time, offering the airline’s long-haul customers a new cabin choice.

“Premium leisure is a trend that has been significantly accelerated during the pandemic, so we are confident our new Premium Economy travel class with its comfortable seats and more space will prove very popular with customers looking for an upgraded experience from Economy”, said Ole Orvér.

Finnair has also invested in a refresh of its long-haul Economy Class, with new seats and larger Inflight Entertainment (IFE) screens with an updated user interface for its A330 aircraft and three A350s.

Sixteen of Finnair’s A350 aircraft will see their Economy cabins receive new seat covers and an updated IFE user experience to bring them in line with the designs of the new Business and Premium Economy cabins.

Long-haul flights are key to Finnair’s strategy, and in summer 2022, the airline plans to serve nearly 100 destinations in Europe, Asia and the US including new long-haul routes to Busan in South Korea, Tokyo Haneda in Japan as well as Dallas and Seattle in the USA.