Finnair revamps business class: fully flat beds for long flights
By John Walton, February 15 2013
Qantas partner Finnair is revamping its business class, removing the angled lie-flat seats currently on board most of its long-haul planes and replacing them with more comfortable and spacious fully flat beds.
With Finnair to remain as a Qantas codeshare partner once the Red Roo's alliance with Emirates goes into effect on April 1, business travellers keen to maximise their Qantas Frequent Flyer balance are set to gain a decent fully flat option across the "Reindeer Route" for getting to Europe.
Fully flat beds are markedly better than angled lie-flat seats: find out why as AusBT puts the truth to the "lie-flat lie".
The Zodiac Vantage seats are already found on some of Finnair's Airbus A330 jets, and will be installed across the airline's fifteen-strong A330 and A340 fleet — with the exception of three of the oldest jets, which are currently planned for retirement in 2015.
In bed mode, the seats extend to 200 cm (79"), and they're 58 cm (23") wide at the shoulder when reclined.
The staggered layout means that most seats have direct aisle access, with only a few requiring window passengers to pick their way gingerly over the slumbering aisle neighbour next to them.
The best on the plane are the solo seats next to the windows, but beware the "throne" type.
These have lots of elbow room when you're working, eating or relaxing, but the footwell is a little constrained when it comes time to convert your seat to a bed. There's actually more room in the middle section or in the solo seats on the other side of the plane.
Curious about the rest of the Finnair experience when heading to Europe? We've got you covered with a full review of the Finnair "Reindeer Route" from Australia to Europe via Asia and Helsinki.
Keep up to the minute with business travel news and the information frequent flyers need: follow @AusBT on Twitter.
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
24 Oct 2011
Total posts 159
yes for direct aisle!
19 Jun 2012
Total posts 30
It might be handy to add that the seat replacement won't be happening until next year, so we still have to wait a while before we can be confident we'll get these better seats on most flights.
19 Dec 2011
Total posts 48
flown them out of bangkok a number of times and they are not bad except for the amount of room for your feet.
with this change will be able to fly flat beds out of singapore which at the moment has angle seats.
big advantage is that finnair makes transfers in helzinki to finnair european flights in 30 mins which is extraordinary! That includes going through customs!
as an airline and a nation they are obsessed with being on time.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Nov 2012
Total posts 12
Looks similar to Swiss International Airlines' business class seats!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
It is almost the same seat as Swiss indeed, but actually bares more resemblence to Austrian and SN Brussels, I would rate the Swiss seat as higher as it looks more classy with the faux wood rather than plastic!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Jul 2013
Total posts 11
Qantas charges c.$9k for a BNE-HEL business class flight... Finnair charges $6.8k for the same, on exactly the same metal (Qantas to HK, Finnair to HEL).
You would have to be desperate for Qantas Status Credits to book through Qantas!
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