Finnair premium economy review – A350 from Osaka to Helsinki

This is our review of Finnair’s premium economy cabin on an A350 from Osaka to Helsinki.

Premium Economy is still a new concept for Finnair, which introduced the cabin in 2022 as part of the refurbishment program on its long haul aircraft.

It is now available across the entire fleet of 24 A330 and A350s which ply routes to North America, Asia and the Middle East. On all its aircraft types the cabin is relatively small, with just 21 – 26 seats compared with BA’s typical 40+ configuration.

This was my return flight from Japan. On the outbound, I reviewed Finnair’s new no-recline AirLounge business class seat.

Finnair premium economy check-in & ground experience

Whilst many airlines have started introducing dedicated check-in desks for premium economy, Finnair operates just two lanes: a priority lane for business class passengers and oneworld Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald members and a plain ol’ economy queue.

Premium economy passengers do not get access to the Priority lane. Fortunately this was not a problem in Osaka where both lanes were empty and I marched straight to the economy desk where I checked my bag.

As is typical for premium economy you don’t get lounge access. However the terminal in Osaka was very quiet at this late hour and featured rows of colourfully padded seats:

Finnair boards its planes in five groups and premium economy is Group 3, so about middle of the pack – after business class and status passengers.

As in Helsinki, Finnair used two jetbridges in Osaka making the boarding process even smoother. The premium economy cabin is to the right of the second doors.

Finnair’s premium economy cabin

On this A350, and in this particular configuration, the premium economy cabin features 26 seats, making it the largest premium economy cabin in the fleet. It has three rows of 2-4-2 seating plus an extra pair of seats in the front right of the cabin.

I was in 22L, a window seat on the right hand side. Luckily the cabin was half empty so I had both seats to myself:

The seats are manufactured by HAECO in Hong Kong and Finnair was the first to install them. I found them comfortable during my 12:45 flight, particularly the memory foam padding which was still supportive and not worn out like you find on some seats.

The seats feature a 38″ pitch, the same as BA or Virgin Atlantic but still at the bottom end of the scale for this cabin. There is an 8″ recline which is better than economy.

The leg rest is electrically actuated and pops up but doesn’t go flat. There is no foot rest, which I would’ve liked, as I’m too tall for leg rests but still like to have the option of different seating positions.

Legroom was about average. Aisle seats have less space due to the in-flight entertainment box being in the middle of the footwell, so I would avoid these.

Other features include a 6-way adjustable head rest and a personal reading light on a stalk behind your head.

There’s a small cocktail table, although I found the surface of this very slippy and not particular good for keeping cups in place. I was a bit worried they would slide all over the place in a light bit of turbulence, so instead I put it on the leather armrest next to it which was much grippier.

In front of you there is a 13″ in-flight entertainment screen:

Underneath this is a small storage unit that’s perfectly sized for the amenity kit, a pair of glasses or your boarding pass. There’s also a USB-A charging port, but no USB-C which is a shame.

I’ve seen similar storage areas pop up on other premium economy seats in recent years and have to say I really value this as it’s an excellent place to keep things.

Underneath this is a literature pocket that you can pull out for even more storage, including laptops:

Meanwhile, two universal mains sockets are between you and your neighbour’s leg rest.

The tray table is a single unit that pops out from the centre armrest. Whilst a single unit is sturdier than a bifold table, it does mean you don’t have the option of folding it in half as a little cocktail table or similar.

Sadly, there are no personal overhead vents.

There is a dedicated toilet for premium economy passengers on board although crew also came around advising us we could use the economy lavatories: in practice, given the half-empty cabin, this was not necessary. These were stocked with the same ‘SEES’ handwash and hand cream as in business class:

Finnair’s in-flight entertainment

The 13″ TV screen features the same excellent in-flight entertainment system as in business class including some of my favourite features such as the flight-timeline, fantastic 3D map and A350 tail cameras.

You could also see the menu on board as well as pay for mid-flight snacks and champagne, which I thought was a bit cheeky in premium economy and screamed low cost carrier.

The only feature missing is a ‘save to favourites’ for films and TV, as I often like to go through the catalogue at the start of a flight and select all the content I’d consider watching. It’s a surprising feature to miss given how modern it otherwise feels.

The headphones provided are the same Phytek noise cancelling headphones as you get in business class, which is a plus. A lot of airlines provide poorer headphones in premium economy.

The selection on board is decent, although perhaps skewed to recent but not brand new releases.

The onboard wifi was decent, when it worked: because we took the Northern Route there seemed to be no coverage over the North Pole and it only reconnected over Longyearbyen in Svalbard.

Finnair’s top status members get one hour for free. For everyone else, pricing depended on whether you were a Finnair Plus member or not, with a small discount if you were. Since it’s free to sign-up there’s no point paying the higher price. Here is the member pricing:

• €19.95 for the full flight
• €12.95 for three hours
• €6.95 for one hour

It worked well when it was connected and I could easily browse the internet and load images, although I didn’t try loading any videos.

Finnair premium economy amenity kit and bedding

Waiting at my sit were three things: an amenity kit, a blanket, a neck pillow:

All three are designed in collaboration with Marimekko, the Finnish design house that Finnair has a deep partnership with. The amenity kits are made of Kraft paper, a card stock with a leathery-sort of finish, which feels suitable for a premium economy amenity kit and has a fitting print on it:

Inside you’ll find a polyester eye mask, some earplugs and a bamboo toothbrush. The contents was adequate buy the eye mask was not particularly soft and I question why it had a firm polyester finish on both sides.

I particularly liked the provided blanket, which was soft and featured the brushstroke motif in a silvery colour:

The neck pillow is an interesting touch, as I don’t know any other airline that does this. It’s a cute idea but I’m not usually the biggest fan of neck pillows.

I ended up using one around my neck and one, unbuckled, and therefore like a tube – as a lumbar support. This was only possible because the seat next to me was empty – on a full flight I would have had to have picked one. It would be good to have another small pillow, I think.

Finnair premium economy service and meals

Upon boarding you are handed a small water bottle that you can take to your seat: this is handed to all economy and premium economy passengers.

After boarding I was greeted by the purser as a oneworld Emerald and told that the flight would take 12:45 and that we would be taking the Northern route across the North Pole. This appears to be a consistent Finnair approach as I had exactly the same greeting in business class on the outbound, but I think this is a nice touch.

There was no pre-flight service and things only kicked off after takeoff, when crew came round with a (very!) hot towel as well as a drinks run, which included house wines (but no sparkling wine) beers, and other drinks. I went for some red wine which was served with a bag of pretzels and came in a Finnair-branded bottle with a pretty label:

All drinks were provided in plastic cups which was a bit disappointing: most other airlines now serve most (if not all) drinks in glass.

The main meal was served within an hour of taking off, with a choice of:

• Simmered pork with steamed rice, black sesame seeds, vegetables, mushrooms and Japanese An sauce
• Steamed Basa fish served with cream sauce, roasted potatoes, vegetables and steamed snap peas

Unfortunately they had run out of options by the time they got to me in the third row, despite the almost-empty cabin. I was only offered the steamed fish served on real plates and with real cutlery. The vegetables were definitely overcooked:

The starter was Roasted beef served with mashed potatoes and green peas, sweet pickles and tomato. I was delighted to find the mashed potato had a slight wasabi kick to it!

Dessert, meanwhile, was simply a blueberry muffin: a poor show and something I wouldn’t even expect to see in economy.

Portions were small because, as you can see, it was served on a half tray – again, a stingy cost saving for what should be the main meal.

I managed to sleep a surprising amount of time on the flight. At one point, crew came around offering cups of water; I’m not sure if they came round at other times offering snacks, but you could help yourself to crisps and some small chocolates in the galley. Otherwise, snacks were chargeable including €3 for a bar of chocolate and €4 for a muffin.

One of the unusual perks of flying via the Northern Route is that, despite following the night (both taking off and landing in the dark) you get to experience a dawn over the North Pole thanks to the Midnight Sun.

This obviously only applies in summer time as in the winter the North Pole experiences the Polar Night. Crew hand out a ‘Northern route diploma’ to passengers; mine had been signed with a little message by the crew, I believe because I’m oneworld Emerald.

I woke up around three hours prior to landing. A second meal service was offered about an hour later. This was an omelette served with fried potatoes, ratatouille and steamed broccoli in an uninspiring box and with wooden cutlery:

When you compare it to what other airlines offer as the second meal in premium economy it’s downright embarrassing.

I had it with a glass of orange juice which was neither fresh nor from concentrate, but a squash-like flavour.

Conclusion

As with my business class review, I must conclude that whilst Finnair has a strong seat and hard product it is not matched by the meal service.

Unfortunately glassware, sparkling wine, larger meals and a better second meal are all standard on other airlines but lacking on Finnair. I can’t imagine the airline saves much but it comes at the cost of customer satisfaction. Is it worth it? I doubt it.

Fortunately, the crew were lovely and made the experience pleasant. Overall, it feels like Finnair has the bones of a genuinely good experience here if only it opened its cheque book just a little further.

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