Finnair to Upgrade Business Class Seats on 9 Long Haul Routes

Effective 1 April 2014, Finnair will dedicate aircraft with full-flat seats in Business Class to flights to Tokyo and New York, and from 1 May 2014 to Beijing and Seoul. From 1 June 2014 the full-flat allocation will extend to Hanoi, Hong Kong, Nagoya, Osaka and Shanghai.

The new seats are a result of Finnair’s 29 million-euro program to retrofit most of its wide-body fleet of Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft.

The Zodiac Seats UK Vantage model seats – already in use on Finnair’s four newest Airbus A330s – are designed to provide a fully-flat bed of up to 200 cm (79”), while shoulder room measures 58 cm (23”). The fully adjustable seats also come with an individual reading light, adjustable head rest, mood lights and a range of inflight entertainment options.

“We believe that full-flat seats are the new quality standard for long-haul business travel,” said Allister Paterson, Finnair’s Chief Commercial Officer. “A promise of comfort and quality to key business destinations will help make Finnair a very compelling option in business travel, particularly between Europe and Asia.”

After the full-flat retrofit program is complete, all of Finnair’s long-haul Airbus fleet will have full-flat seats in Business Class with the exception of three older aircraft. Due to maintenance or other technical reasons, designated full-flat routes may still be served by these other aircraft, which feature angled lie-flat seating in Business Class. These three aircraft will be the first to be removed from the fleet as next-generation Airbus A350 XWBs begin arriving in 2015.

Finnair currently operates 15 Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft in its wide-body fleet, serving a network of 15 long-haul destinations in Asia and North America. A further 11 Airbus A350 XWBs (with an option for 8 more) are due to arrive beginning in H2 2015, which will help the airline double its revenue from Asian destinations by 2020. Finnair will be the first European airline to fly with the state of the art A350.