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Finnair rolling out new AirLounge Business Class to more Asian cities

Finnair's new AirLounge Business Class will feature on Bangkok, Doha, Delhi, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo flights this summer, meaning more Asia-Europe redemptions starting at just 61,000 miles.

It probably hasn’t escaped your attention over the last year or so that Finnair has a brand new Business Class product on its wide-body Airbus A330 and A350 aircraft, which has been making headlines for its unique non-reclining padded ‘seat shell’ design.

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Singapore was the carrier’s launch long-haul route for the new seats, which debuted on ‘Vaccinated Travel Lane’ flights (remember those?) four times a week last year, and have since become daily restriction-free services, thanks to border easing.

Bangkok and Phuket were both added to the roster of AirLounge routes during the current winter season, and now with more aircraft refitted there’s further news of additional routes for summer 2023.

Finnair’s AirLounge Business Class seat. (Photo: Finnair)

More Asian cities get the AirLounge seats

The oneworld airline has now confirmed that following a roll-out to Singapore and Bangkok last year, all flights to and from Delhi, Doha, Hong Kong and Tokyo (Haneda) will be picking up the new seats during the summer 2023 season, from 26th March 2023.

(Source: Finnair Facebook)

That will open up more low-tax redemption opportunities to and from Europe in this well-rated cabin, from just 61,000 Asia Miles + S$40 one-way, since these routes fall within a lower award band for Asia Miles partner redemptions compared to Singapore.

That makes them a useful option if you can’t find award space on the Singapore route, not to mention a 9,000 miles saving each way from Bangkok, Delhi, Hong Kong and Tokyo, due to the shorter zone combination.

From Doha to Helsinki, the award rate is highly competitive at 30,000 Asia Miles + S$70, for a 7-hour flight in the new Business Class product.

Doha to Helsinki is 30,000 Asia Miles + S$70 in Business Class

You can even score 18 hours in this new seat (if you really want to put it to the test!) between Delhi and New York via Helsinki for 75,000 Asia Miles + S$109.

Award space on the Singapore – Helsinki route is almost non-existent these days, but thankfully that’s not the case at the time of writing to and from Bangkok, Delhi, Doha, Hong Kong and Tokyo Haneda.

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Hong Kong has now reopened to travellers with minimal restrictions and no testing, especially if you’re simply making a connection there, so this could be a good way to redeem the AirLounge from Singapore to Europe this summer with a DIY transit or stopover in the city.

14 hours in AirLounge Business Class with Finnair from Hong Kong to Helsinki for 61,000 Asia Miles + S$60

Finnair’s Phuket flights flights are currently also receiving the AirLounge Business Class seats, however this is a seasonal (winter) route for the airline, and will not be operating between April and October 2023.

The schedule

Here’s how Finnair’s AirLounge Business Class flight schedule to and from the Middle East and Asia looks for the summer 2023 season.

Bangkok
26th March – 28th October 2023

  Days
M T W T F S S
AY142
A350-900
AirLounge
BKK
07:15
HEL

15:35
AY141
A350-900
AirLounge
HEL
13:45
BKK

05:25*

* Next day

Delhi
26th March – 28th October 2023

  Days
M T W T F S S
AY122
A330-300
AirLounge
DEL
07:40
HEL

14:35
AY121
A330-300
AirLounge
HEL
18:10
DEL

05:20*

* Next day

Doha
26th March – 28th October 2023

  Days
M T W T F S S
AY1982
A330-300
AirLounge
DOH
08:10
HEL

15:15
AY1981
A330-300
AirLounge
HEL
17:10
DOH

23:55

Hong Kong
26th March – 28th October 2023

  Days
M T W T F S S
AY100
A350-900
AirLounge
HKG
20:45
HEL

05:55*
AY99
A350-900
AirLounge
HEL
00:45
HKG

17:55

* Next day

Singapore
26th March – 28th October 2023

  Days
M T W T F S S
AY131
A350-900
AirLounge
SIN
21:50
HEL

06:15*
AY131
A350-900
AirLounge
HEL
00:15
SIN

18:20

Tokyo Haneda
26th March – 28th October 2023

  Days
M T W T F S S
AY62
A350-900
AirLounge
HND
21:50
HEL

04:40*
AY61
A350-900
AirLounge
HEL
18:30
HND

13:50

* Next day

Do note that Finnair’s four times weekly Tokyo Narita flights are not AirLounge equipped this summer, only the Haneda route is guaranteed to have the product.

About AirLounge

Finnair was the launch customer for the Collins AirLounge product, which doesn’t have a traditional reclining seat like most Business Class cabins, but instead is effectively a contoured padded shell, designed to allow you to position yourself at a wide variety of different angles.

In this new seating concept, you can rest your feet on the ottoman or use extendable infill panels to create a large flat surface. Pillows are provided to offer support in various seating positions.

Make yourself comfortable in a variety of seating positions in the AirLounge seat. (Photo: Finnair)

The fully flat surface also has a mattress, duvet and pillows provided for a flat-bed experience.

Modern features also include wireless charging, Wi-Fi connectivity and a new 18-inch touchscreen in-flight entertainment system.

The new Finnair Business Class side table includes a handy wireless mobile charging point. (Photo: Finnair)

Universal AC, USB-A and USB-C power sockets are also fitted at each seat.

It’s certainly a unique product, and we look forward to trying it out ourselves to find out how comfortable it is on a long-haul flight.

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Here’s our summary of the new seat, from its launch announcement earlier this year.

You can also refer to some recent A350 AirLounge Business Class flight reviews, for more information:

You can identify the Airbus A350s with the new configuration because seats 1A and 1L are missing on the seat map, either via the Finnair website or through a system like ExpertFlyer.

No 1A or 1L on the A350? You’ve snagged the AirLounge seat!

If you’re looking at a Finnair Airbus A330 route, like Delhi to Helsinki or Helsinki to New York, the AirLounge cabin is identifiable from a 1-2-1 layout on the seat map with 28 seats in total across 7 rows (unlike the A350, seats 1A and 1L do exist in the A330 AirLounge configuration).

Finnair now has seven Airbus A350s with AirLounge Business Class seats. (Photo: Finnair)

Two different layouts are installed on the A350 and one on the A330, all of which are used on selected Asia routes including Singapore flights, with either 28, 30 or 43 seats in Business Class.

New Business Class Configurations

Aircraft Old
Business
New ‘AirLounge’
Business
A350-900
‘Lo-J’
32 seats 30 seats
A350-900
‘Hi-J’
46 seats 43 seats
A330-300
‘Lo-J’
32 seats 28 seats
A330-300
‘Hi-J’
45 seats

You can also count the total number of seats on the seat map to determine whether your flight has the AirLounge product, but for the A350 it’s much simpler just to spot the ‘missing’ 1A and 1L, which are present on the older A350s, while for the A330 a 1-2-1 configuration at all rows means it’s AirLounge.

Finnair still has a decent Business Class seat on its older A350s, but this is not what we’re focusing on in this article! (Photo: Finnair)

Finnair already has the AirLounge cabin fitted on seven of its 17 Airbus A350s and five of its eight Airbus A330s, which is why the airline is able to ramp up operations with the new seats in the months ahead:

Airbus A330s

  • OH-LTM
  • OH-LTO
  • OH-LTP
  • OH-LTT
  • OH-LTU

Airbus A350s

  • OH-LWD
  • OH-LWE
  • OH-LWF
  • OH-LWH
  • OH-LWI
  • OH-LWN
  • OH-LWS

These reconfigured aircraft also have a Premium Economy cabin, the first time Finnair has offered this product.

Finnair also offers Premium Economy on its A350s refitted with AirLounge Business Class seats. (Photo: Finnair)

This makes aircraft swaps to non-AirLounge aircraft on these routes much less likely in our opinion, since Premium Economy passengers would have to be re-accommodated in a different cabin class in such events.

Other AirLounge routes

Aside from these Middle East and Asia services, Finnair will operate AirLounge-configured Airbus A350s and Airbus A330s on all flights between Helsinki and the following cities this summer:

  • Chicago (A330)
  • Dallas (A350)
  • New York JFK (A330)
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The product also makes an appearance on other routes, like Helsinki – London, on selected flights.

Great value Asia – Europe redemptions

Finnair imposes a very small EUR12 (~S$17) fuel surcharge (YQ) on award tickets between Helsinki and Asia, among the lowest in the industry.

The low fee makes it a great redemption option to and from Europe with minimal cash to pay on top of your miles outlay, with Asia Miles being the frequent flyer currency of choice due to its competitive Asia – Europe award pricing.

The part of the Asia Miles Partner Award chart that makes Finnair AirLounge Asia – Europe awards good value

Here’s how it looks for these latest AirLounge routes, to Europe or all the way to the USA via Helsinki.

Finnair AirLounge Business Class
Asia Miles redemption
to / from ME / Asia

To / From Helsinki
or Europe
New York
(via HEL)
Doha 30,000
+ S$67
75,000
+ S$135
Delhi 61,000
+ S$40
75,000
+ S$109
Bangkok 61,000
+ S$48
90,000
+ S$115
Hong Kong 61,000
+ S$60
90,000
+ S$127
Tokyo 61,000
+ S$540
n/a
Singapore 70,000
+ S$80
90,000
+ S$146

One exception to the low fuel surcharge is the Tokyo Haneda route.

Finnair operates its Tokyo service under a joint venture business with British Airways and Japan Airlines, and because of the streamlined fare structure due to the ability for travellers to seamlessly mix-and-match flights between carriers, an identical fuel surcharge is applied to services by all three airlines on this route.

This additional surcharge (coded YR) adds around S$270 to the Asia Miles award cost in the Helsinki to Tokyo direction and a whopping S$480 in the Tokyo to Helsinki direction.

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It’s a good reason to consider Alaska Miles for the Tokyo route, since no fuel surcharge is passed on when redeeming via that programme, making the award 60,000 Alaska Miles + S$56, instead of 61,000 Asia Miles + S$540.

Alaska Miles AirLounge Business Class award from Tokyo to Helsinki on Finnair

We recommend using the British Airways Avios portal or the American Airlines site to search for award space on Finnair (and indeed on all oneworld carriers), since we find those the easiest to use.

This is a Finnair AirLounge Business Class flight – don’t be confused by the lack of Premium Economy, which Finnair does not offer to partners for awards yet

However, when it comes to actually locking in an award, here’s how the pricing looks with a variety of oneworld frequent flyer programmes, based on travel to Helsinki from selected Asian cities served with AirLounge Business Class this summer.

Finnair Business Class redemption
SE Asia to Helsinki

FFP Bangkok
Hong Kong*

Tokyo Singapore
AStrans 60,000
+ S$76
60,000
+ S$56
60,000
+ S$41
61,000
+ S$60
61,000
+ S$540
70,000
+ S$39
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Avios-BA-QR-2.png 77,250
+ S$60
77,250
+ S$540
92,750
+ S$39
90,000
+ S$60
90,000
+ S$540
90,000
+ S$39
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is MHtrans.png 131,000
+ S$60
131,000
+ S$540
131,000
+ S$39

* Ex-Hong Kong taxes and fees shown, Bangkok is cheaper.

Pro Tip: If you have Qatar Airways Avios (formerly Qmiles), you can access the rates shown above by transferring them free 1:1 into your British Airways Avios account (if you don’t have one – open one) and then booking your Finnair redemption via that portal.

As you can see, Asia Miles is probably the top pick among our readers in the region, allowing you to redeem the new AirLounge product to Europe from Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan for 61,000 Asia miles, with minimal fees to pay in most cases, through your Cathay account, as shown below.

Flights between Singapore and both Bangkok and Hong Kong are relatively cheap, especially if you book in advance with a low-cost carrier, so this could be a nice way to have a two-centre trip (e.g. Hong Kong and Europe) and take advantage of this competitive award rate for the long-haul sectors.

Even if you manage to snag a Singapore – Europe AirLounge Business Class redemption on Finnair, the widely-held Asia Miles option remains the best for most of our readers, allowing redemptions on Finnair for 70,000 miles each way.

That’s quite something, given that Singapore Airlines now wants 103,500 KrisFlyer miles for a saver award ticket in Business Class to Europe, following last year’s devaluation.



 


 

Summary

We’ve been impressed to see to see an airline with a new Business Class product start to roll it out relatively quickly on the network, and Finnair’s plan to deploy its brand new innovative AirLounge Business Class seats to and from more Middle East and Asian cities from late March is great news for many of our readers.

It’s particularly good to see a European airline concentrate its latest products on Asia-Pacific routes first, since these carriers usually focus on their transatlantic markets before we get a look in ‘out East’!

The Finnair A350 AirLounge Business Class cabin. (Photo: Finnair)

The AirLounge seat gets mostly positive reviews from what we’ve seen so far, and this addition of Doha, Delhi, Hong Kong and Tokyo Haneda flights actually brings more non-stop redemptions in at only 61,000 Asia Miles each way in most cases, while (hopefully) improving award space to and from the region.

Tokyo sadly suffers from a scary fuel surcharge using Asia Miles on Finnair, but Alaska Mileage Plan is one way to wriggle out of that one.

The new seats will also continue to ply the daily Singapore – Helsinki route during the upcoming summer season, as they currently do, if you’re able to snag a rare award on this more popular city pair at the still-competitive 70,000 Asia Miles rate.

(Cover Photo: Finnair)

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9 comments

  1. Don’t forget about Finnair Plus! It doesn’t look attractive on the first sight, but has some hidden gems. They sell sometimes points with 100% bonus, which brings down the cost to just 0.64 EUR per point.
    A Finnair award Asia-Europe is 80 000 points in business + airport tax. Even no YQ ex-TYO.
    That’s under 550 EUR for 13h business flight Tokyo-Helsinki-Anywhere in Europe over the North Pole thus.

    With some past promo’s it got even sweeter. Not sure if we’ll ever see these back though.
    In DEC2021 they gave free status points when buying miles with 100% bonus.
    2575 EUR got back then either:
    – 400 000 redeemable Finnair Points + 100 000 status points which gives for 2 years of Finnair Gold/Oneworld Sapphire Status.
    -250 000 redeemable Finnair points + 150 000 status points which gives 2 years of Finnair Platinum/Oneworld Emerald status.
    This Finnair Platinum came over the 2 years validity with 4 long haul business upgrade vouchers, 12 flexi (shorthaul) upgrade vouchers, a bunch of other written and unwritten benefits, and 2 giveaway gold cards that come with another 4 flexi upgrade vouchers each for the receiver.

    One of the better deals during the pandemic. Especially since upgrade vouchers do straight Y to J without any booking class restrictions. They can even be used on awards. They also allow redeeming 4 flexi upgrade vouchers for an economy 2-for-1 roundtrip award, that can afterwards still be upgraded to biz with the long haul upgrade vouchers. 4 flexi vouchers could also be converted in another long haul upgrade voucher.
    Award availability in 2022 was much better than 2023 though.

    OneWorld Emerald status is also amazing in Singapore. QF F lounge access whenever flying a cheap MH ticket/avios award to KL, and MH F lounge access on the way back. Ideal weekend/date night activity!

  2. In absence of a reclining seat, how does one able to sleep with the torso not supported since one’s head would be on the part where the buttock is when seated upright and the main torso will be dangling above the space between the seat edge and the foot well? Any pictures to show how does one sleep properly in this seat?

  3. any idea when the new seats will be rolled out across other routes? particularly looking at Mumbai to Helsinki in the last week of August 2023. thanks

  4. Hello, I calculate the distance between BKK-HEL-IVL still under 5000 miles, so its should cost me at 61K miles for one way business redemption right?

    However if I lookt at up AA there’s availibility, but when I try to book via Cathay Asia Miles, it doesnt allow me to book, is that possible to contact their agent or use the manual fill the form to redeem it?

    Thank you

  5. I have used the SIN-HEL flight twice now in business and the seats are terrible. Would have to have been the thought bubble of a Porsche driving, Latte drinking , ponytailed left wing looney.

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