With every seat offering direct aisle access and a fully-flat bed as you soar through the sky, there’s no such thing as a ‘bad’ business class seat on Finnair’s new Airbus A350s: but some do have their advantages over others.
Whether you’re travelling on your lonesome or as a couple and whether you want to sleep or enjoy the view, we reveal our top picks aboard Finnair’s A350s.
Finnair Airbus A350 business class seats
Set in a 1-2-1 arrangement, Finnair splits business class into two separate cabins: rows 1-8 are at the front, with rows 9-12 further behind.
The centre seats are labelled ‘D’ and ‘H’ while the windows come as ‘A’ and ‘L’ – yes, ‘L’.
There’s no single standout seat among the bunch, so here’s what we’d suggest depending on your plans throughout the flight.
Solo jetsetters: Grab a window seat if you can – simply, because there’s nobody sitting next to you.
Even though your seat does open out to the aisle, you won’t see any other passengers as long as they remain seated, thanks to a shell which wraps around each pod:
High-flying couples: Snap up a D and H pair in the same row, as these seats angle towards each other.
You won’t be able to play ‘footsie’ but you’ll still be able to chat – and while there’s a small privacy divider fixed between the seats, it’s easy to see each other if you scoot forward slightly.
Light sleepers: Because the overhead lockers on the A350 are so spacious, they’re only fitted along the outer edge of the cabin over the window seats – not over the centre seats.
If you wake from the slightest bump or the first sign of noise, choose one of the centre seats instead and there’ll be no locker to open and clip closed above you. You might also consider avoiding rows 1, 8, 9 and 10, which back onto the bathrooms, galleys and a small snack area.
Sightseers: On late-night flights from Helsinki – particularly AY69 to Hong Kong which takes off around midnight – choose a window seat on the ‘A’ side.
That’s where you can watch the sun go down after midnight during the European summer, and 20-30 minutes later, can see it rise up again in almost the same place, which can play mind tricks on Aussies used to seeing the sun rise in the east and set far away in the west.
Also read: Finnair A350 business class review, Hong Kong-Helsinki-HK
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Mar 2013
Total posts 7
There are overhead lockers over the centre seats in the second minicabin (rows 9-12). At least there were on my flight in July.
For readers lucky enough to fly as a family in business class, I recommend putting a child requiring supervision or help in the seat across the aisle from you: ie., A&D or H&L, rather than a pair of centre seats, as you can see your young charge easier and reach across the aisle, but not around the fixed privacy divider.
It's a great plane. The crew is not quite as experienced: we had an issue with a very drunk or drugged passenger that was not handled very well. But I would fly them again simply because I love HKIA transit, and HEL is a fantastic airport.
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1559
Yea, choosing seats became boring (not like on BA!) because as Chris absolutely rightly mentioned there is no such things like “bad” seat in business cabin anymore. So the choice is plain – you like to see through window or chat to someone during flight. My wife and I choose middle pair for day flight and window seats for night sleep.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Mar 2016
Total posts 54
Flew back from Helsinki to Hong Kong in July and found the A350 to be fantastic and my seat 6L a good choice for a solo traveller. Service was great and attentive and the Cathay lounges in Hong Kong were amongst the best I have experienced.
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