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Finnair A320 short haul business class review from London to Helsinki

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This is my review of short haul business class on Finnair, the Finnish flag carrier.

Finnair now flies four times a day to London, with British Airways effectively ceding the route to its oneworld partner.

That’s not a bad thing, as two of these four are operated by Finnair’s long haul A330 or A350s, replete with its brand new business class, premium economy and economy cabins which I will review over the next few days. But this still leaves two daily flights on single aisle aircraft. How does the experience compare?

As I was flying to Nagoya (Japan) via Helsinki I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take a look and add to our growing portfolio of European short haul business class reviews.

Check-in and bag drop at London Heathrow

Finnair operates from Terminal 3 at Heathrow. Although this is now the oldest terminal at the airport, the good news is that you have your choice of some of the best lounges in the UK.

Finnair check-in and bag drop is operated from Zone C. If you’re flying economy then this is via self-service machines; if you are flying business or have oneworld status (eg. British Airways Gold, as I do) then you can use the staffed desks on the left:

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

There were literally no other customers when I arrived so I marched right to the front and checked my bag in, before being informed that I had access to fast track security and the Cathay Pacific lounge.

Heathrow continues to replace its existing scanners with new 3D CT scanners so the Fast Track lane wasn’t where I was expecting it. Nevertheless, the three lanes were quiet and I put my bag straight on the belt.

Whilst the Cathay Pacific lounge is Finnair’s designated lounge, you can take your pick of any of the oneworld lounges which gives you quite some choice:

If you are oneworld Emerald then you can also use the American Airlines First Class Lounge, the British Airways First Class Lounge or the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge.

Don’t know where to start? You can see my ranking of the best Heathrow Terminal 3 lounges here. If you have time, you can pop into several lounges successively and do a lounge safari. If you don’t then you can’t go wrong with the Cathay Pacific lounge, which in my opinion is the most stylish of the lot and offers a noodle bar as well as staffed bar.

Onboard Finnair’s A321

The gate was announced about 40 minutes prior to departure and I walked down to Gate 3A, at the far end of the A380 pier. For whatever reason, most gates at Terminal 3 feature holding pens so once you’re beeped in it’s not the easiest to leave! It does mean that you don’t need to scan your boarding pass again, though.

Unlike the long haul fleet, which has been refurbished in deep midnight blue upholstery and warm wood (effect) touches, the short haul fleet sports the airline’s old branding. That means you are greeted with a sea of light grey seating:

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

It does make you wonder who thought putting grey seats in a grey interior was a good idea! Thank goodness for David Kondo, the designer behind Finnair’s new branding.

I had seat 1F, in the bulkhead row. Like other European airlines, Finnair’s short haul business class is in a 3-3 configuration but with the middle seat blocked. As you can see, there is no special middle-seat table like you find on some BA aircraft: the only distinguishing feature between business class and economy is the curtain a third way down the cabin.

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

In the front row your tray table is inside the armrest, which pops out into a bi-folding table:

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

This features a clever tablet stand, too:

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

As far as I could tell there was no in-seat power of any kind. A bottle of water was in the seatpocket in front:

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

Food and service on Finnair short haul business class

Shortly after take-off an automated PA explained what both business class and economy passengers could expect – a hot meal in business and water or blueberry juice in economy.

As soon as the seatbelt signs went off the crew jumped up and offered us a drink from the bar cart. I went for the classic Finnair blueberry juice and a glass of sparkling wine – Finnair dropped champagne from short haul business class in early 2023.

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

Both are served in the iconic Iittala Ultima Thule glasses by Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala. These have been a staple on Finnair for literally decades, since 1969. Whilst it originally stocked a wider range of this glassware on board, in 2022 it was replaced with newer, more modern and crucially lighter glassware for water and other drinks.

About 40 minutes later – delayed slightly by the onset of turbulence and the cessation of service – the meal service was offered. You don’t get a choice of dishes, unfortunately, and on my flight it consisted of an artichoke tartlet and some kind of chicken orzo with tomato sauce. You also get a choice of rye or white bread:

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

The artichoke tartlet was surprisingly flavourful and delicious. The chicken dish, however, was nothing to write home about: the orzo was plain with a piece of cooked chicken, some tomato sauce and green beans on the side.

Notice the blue cup on the tray: this is for water. However, the size is a joke: it must hold less than 100mls. It is so small it is practically useless and the crew gave me an Ultima Thule cup of water instead.

After dinner, I was offered tea or coffee as well as a cinnamon bun. I went for Roobois tea and enjoyed the warmed bun with it – I like that dessert was a local touch. It’s a shame it wasn’t served on a plate; the napkin felt a bit economy.

Review: Finnair European business class on the A320

A final round of drinks was offered about 40 minutes before landing whilst a little chocolate was also offered prior to descent.

Conclusion

If I am being honest, there is little to differentiate Finnair’s short haul business class offering from other European airlines. These days, it’s about small details such as the Iittala glassware, blueberry juice or cinnamon bun.

For better of for worse, 3-3 seating with an empty middle seat is now the standard. That said, with two daily A330 or A350 departures you can obviously do a lot better (ie a flat bed!), and if you have the time it is worth booking yourself onto one of these.

But back to the A321. The lack of in-seat power was disappointing, although fortunately I didn’t require it on my trip and knew I could charge my phone in the lounge later. Ditching champagne in favour of (French) sparkling wine is also a shame.

However, I can’t fault the service which was attentive and friendly from both crew at the front.

Stay tuned for reviews of Finnair’s new no-recline sofa seat business class, its new premium economy cabin and lounges in Helsinki, as well as a couple of hotels in Japan. It was a busy week ….

Head for Points made a financial contribution to the Woodland Trust as part of this trip. The Woodland Trust creates and manages forests in the UK in accordance with the Woodland Carbon Code.

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Finnair and Finnair Plus

Comments (73)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
    23 Sep23 September 03:59

    From the end of October it’s bumped up to 6 flights a day but still only 2:with the sofa suites so check carefully before booking,

    If it’s any consolation the cinnamon buns get the napkin treatment even on the sofa suite flights.

    • daveinitalia says:
      23 Sep23 September 06:28

      It’s probably to save weight to reduce the number of plates they need to carry (and save on washing up)

      • Dubious says:
        23 Sep23 September 17:05

        They could be a bit more creative than a napkin though. Even a bit of card would help prevent leakage between the table surface.

    • Alex G says:
      23 Sep23 September 08:48

      Worth noting that the increased frequency of flights to LHR and other European destinations is because the wet lease of A320s to BA finished.

  • riku says:
    23 Sep23 September 04:32

    There is no mention of the internet/messaging onboard. For LHR-HEL you actually get a better package on the A321 than if you you take one of the A350 flights.
    There is a “premium economy” cabin on the A350 but for LHR-HEL the seats are considered as economy with a seat fee. This means if you have a premium economy ticket LHR-HEL-TYO you cannot sit in premium economy on an A350 LHR-HEL flight unless you pay extra or have one world emerald status. Letting premium economy passengers sit in premium economy seats is obviously too much for their IT systems to handle.

  • BJ says:
    23 Sep23 September 04:41

    From/to EDI most flights are operated by Norra so I haven’t been on the A320 for about 4 year I think. I guess they are showing their age now but I am a fan of the seats/interior. I thought it smart and more comfortable than most of the European competition. The lack of choice in the meal is problematic, my partner always pre-orders the seafood meal for this reason. This is almost always salmon. I take my chances hoping for reindeer but have not had that for a few years either so perhaps it has been discontinued. Provided I get something I like and nothing with cheese, I think the shorthaul J meal service on Finnair is superior to most European shorthaul offerings.

    • daveinitalia says:
      23 Sep23 September 06:12

      Unless it’s been brought back the seafood meal on AY was scrapped a year or two ago which is a shame as I always ordered that. They’re slowly following in the footsteps of BA who scrapped their seafood meals over 10 years ago, I used to order them to avoid their awful afternoon tea!

      • BJ says:
        23 Sep23 September 06:51

        Our last Finnair flight was late 22, early 23 I think, we’vecusedcQatar since as the 45min HEL connection makes me nervousvdespite only ever missing a 1h connection once.

        • daveinitalia says:
          23 Sep23 September 08:39

          The HEL immigration people love giving UK passport holders massive questioning although I discovered they don’t do this when I present my Italian residency card alongside my British passport. But as long as you’re staying in the non-Schengen section a short connection should be fine at HEL. Not that I’d want a short connection there as the lounge is nice (the Platinum wing has a restaurant and sauna)

          • Rob says:
            23 Sep23 September 08:56

            I had a spurt of this pre covid but most EU countries have chilled now. Remember that in theory you need a visa to enter some EU countries if you are there for a business meeting, although trade shows and conferences have a carve out.

  • daveinitalia says:
    23 Sep23 September 06:18

    “water and a snack in economy”

    Blueberry juice is also available in economy. Until recent enhancements it was tea, coffee and blueberry juice but the hot drinks are now buy on board.

    Are you sure you get a free snack in economy? I’ve only flown AY in economy once and remember being able to get multiple top ups of blueberry juice but can’t remember a snack (which means it must have been underwhelming if there was one). I did pre-order some food though which might be why I didn’t get a snack.

    Finnair also lets you pre-order WiFi which i think is cheaper than buying on board

    • R_B says:
      23 Sep23 September 08:04

      You’re correct, there is no snack in economy. The recent ‘enhancements’ also removed the option for OWE in economy to have a drink of their choice from the bar. I also remember, maybe pre-covid, being offered Finnish newspapers in economy as a OWE.

      • daveinitalia says:
        23 Sep23 September 08:43

        It’s a shame there’s so many enhancements. They’re quite expensive for a short haul airline, it was nice when they offered a few extras compared to BA. Perhaps that’s the idea if they’re concentrating on connections to long haul they want to discourage people booking shorthaul unless they’re willing to pay a premium.

    • Rhys says:
      23 Sep23 September 08:58

      Must’ve misheard. Fixed!

  • daveinitalia says:
    23 Sep23 September 06:50

    A key question is what is the French sparkling wine like? When I was in AY J I totally forgot about it, I was drinking gin (they have nice gin on board) and also beer. It’s quite possible that the sparkling wine is nicer than the drain cleaner BA offers as champagne in Club Europe.

    The only real difference between AY J and other European business classes is the food and booze offered. It’s a shame that they no longer offer a choice in main courses

    • JDB says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:22

      @daveinitalia – that sparkling wine is, I think, from the well known wine producing country of Luxembourg. It is méthode champenoise and I’m told it’s OK. I’m not really a champagne fan, but the Castelnau BA usually serves now is fine and better than the Heidsieck they used to offer. The Castelnau is certainly an awful lot better than the still wines offered in CE.

      That Finnair main course doesn’t look too appetising and having read many complaints here by fussy eaters moaning they didn’t get their first choice on BA CE (and, staggeringly, seeking compensation for their trauma) I guess they will just have to avoid Finnair SH entirely.

      • daveinitalia says:
        23 Sep23 September 08:48

        I prefer Castelnau to Nicky Fou (I’m too tired early in the morning to try spelling its proper name) but recently it’s NF which has been on board my CE flights (even though the printed menus say Castelnau). Not sure it’s a temporary change. I preferred Canard Duchene which never made it to CE but was the CW champagne a few years ago and used to be in the lounges.

      • RussC says:
        23 Sep23 September 09:22

        Last 2 BA CE flights this month, the champagne has been Nicholas Feuillatte – beter or worse?- Discuss!

        • JDB says:
          23 Sep23 September 11:13

          Nicolas Feuillatte isn’t as consistent as as some houses work hard on this from year to year but maybe the NF co-operative model makes this trickier.

      • RussellH says:
        23 Sep23 September 10:46

        JDB wrote:

        > that sparkling wine is, I think, from the well known wine producing country of
        > Luxembourg. It is méthode champenoise and I’m told it’s OK.

        Sounds a bit cynical to me! Are you not familiar with Luxemburg wines? They grow on the left bank of the Mosel; the right bank is one of the oldest wine growing areas in Europe. The Romans certainly made wine there and exported it too. Elbling grapes are still grown in Luxemburg… OK, they do not make the finest wines, but as perhaps the original wine grape in Europe, something of interest.

        The style of Luxemburg wines is more akin to Alsace rather than the German Mosel + Saar wines grown on the opposite bank. I assume that this also applies to Luxemburg Crémant.

  • Mat says:
    23 Sep23 September 06:52

    Just a minor spelling correction of the glassware brand,

    Littala ❌
    Iittala (iittala) ✅

  • Earthman says:
    23 Sep23 September 06:57

    I’ve done that flight many times in that seat ex DUB (no T3 safari,just tge DUB T1 lounge which is quieter since BA left),the service is indeed great and the crew always have time to banter with you.I like the platinum wing lounge at HEL especially the area behind the curtain in front of the window
    The bar tender will always drop your drink down to you
    It closes at 530 though which means if you are on the HND flight you need to decamp to the much larger business lounge next door,it’s pretty darn good too though,albeit with no window
    I’ve yet to bother with the plat sauna,though I did have a look first time I was in there

  • memesweeper says:
    23 Sep23 September 07:05

    I love the glasses and have many at home. They are expensive — my habit got started onboard a Finnair flight to Helsinki. The hidden cost of premium travel 🙂

    • JDB says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:26

      Yes, the glasses are great. We were given some for working on the IPO but my wife isn’t so keen on them. She’s more positive since seeing the same design recently in the V&A!

      • memesweeper says:
        23 Sep23 September 08:08

        I source mine from ebay. If you’d like to please your better half by offloading them on me Rob has my email address.

    • Lewis says:
      23 Sep23 September 07:38

      Exactly the same for me! I loved them so much I ordered them for pick up on my return flight – back when the onboard shop was a thing.

      Check out Iittala’s site, often they have half price sales on these glasses. I think one is on right now for certain sizes. I just got a bunch more of the old fashioned sized ones last month ☺️

      • Lumma says:
        23 Sep23 September 09:25

        They’re selling some clear plates for 40% off. Handy for still being able to see the TV when licking your plate

    • Panda Mick says:
      24 Sep24 September 09:04

      Having got a fair number of Iittala glasswares also, I’m off to Helsinki in a few weeks, but also visiting https://iittalavillage.fi/en/iittala-outlet-iittala/ Which is on the way to Tampere

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