Finnair Passenger Reviews and Finnair Customer Trip Reports

Helsinki-Hong Kong in business. Food was a great disappointment. I am not exaggerating when I call it an economy class meal. Watch out for something they call "midnight menu" because what that means is that there is very little to eat. Finnair has decided that no traveller wants to eat a full dinner on this 10 hour flight, which I find strange. Last year they served a full dinner on this route, but now they have removed the soup, the starter, the salad and the noodles completely. The meal is just a tray with main course. If your hungry, bring your own. No amenity kit provided, but you can ask for some things. They were happy to provide me with a toothbrush, but I just think it is very strange that you have to bother the staff for every little thing you need. Not to mention the mismanagement of staff time, when they have to run around the cabin to serve the toothbrushes one by one.

CPH-HEL-SIN, 20.20 from CPG to HEL and the 23.55 HEL-SIN. 1/2 Hour after take off there was an engine problem and the plane had to turn back to HEL. Disembarked and was given 30 Euros for food and beverage, the Biz class lounge was closed. Re-boarded and took off 03.30 LT. Meal was served all together like economy and portion was a little small. Seat was well worn and the screen was smaller than economy class one on the new SQ/CX planes. Sitting too far away and can not make out the subtitles at time. Just before 06.00 HEL time, announcement by the captain that the same problem on the engines has occurred so we have to turn back! Landed around 07.00 HEL time. Directed to the transfer desk and was put on a SAS flight back to CPH for a SQ 12.30 LT flight back to Singapore. Landed at Singapore 06.30 on Friday so a delay of over 14 hours.

HEL-AMS return. Our departure was during the morning hours, which are one of the busiest at Helsinki airport. Despite of this, Finnair's check-in was handled extremely efficiently, with all the check-in counters staffed. Extremely well done! Check-in at Amsterdam airport was not as efficient, with only two check-in agents present and they seemed like they're fed up with their jobs. Both flights were good with clean aircraft and very friendly crew. The pilots also kept the passengers up to date with flight information. Food was just a sandwich with a choice of soft drink. Both flights were on-time.

AMS-HEL-SIN. Flight out of Helsinki was eventually cancelled after 2 attempts to takeoff. The whole affair was poorly handled by ground staff with passengers left to try and figure out how to how to get another flight and how to get to the offered hotel in Helsinki. This aside, the service was excellent in-flight but the seats were uncomfortable and the food was awful.

AY82 on 19th May 2013 from Singapore to Helsinki. It was a 12hr flight. The seats were cramped, the whole plane looked old and the sound quality of the in-flight entertainment was so bad that I gave up watching altogether. I got off the plane with backache and neckache. On top of that, I was given all the wrong information about their pre-order catalogue. None of the stewardesses on-board or their ground staff seems to know the correct procedure.

Stockholm-Helsinki-Madrid. The seat, space and entertainment were ok. But staff were very polite and the service was excellent, most of the crew could speak 3/4 languages. Very pleasant flights.

Return trip between AMS-HEL-HKG because of its cheap price, although slightly discouraged by the bad on-time rating of the HEL-HKG leg. I was pleasantly surprised at how new their planes are and how comfortable the seats were. AMS-HEL we had the emergency exit seats, which were very spacious and the service was fine, food was quite nice for European flights. HEL-HKG had more leg room and seat pitch than the KLM flights that I used to take. The plane was very clean and staff was friendly. Food could be better but was quite edible. I didn't pay the ridiculous 20 euro per seat to choose seats in advance, but in the end it turned out OK anyway, lots of seats left at the time of check-in. Overall, I would definitely take this flight over other flights operated by e.g. KLM or Lufthansa. I definitely recommend it. Also because Helsinki airport is very easy for transferring.

HEL-HKG in J-Class. A disappointing experience overall. Flight about 60% full in J-Class. Cabin looks dated and generally feels like something out of the early 90s. Definitely not at par with today's standard offerings in Business Class, especially if you are used to travel on CX, SQ and QR. The seat was uncomfortable to say the least. The food was mediocre and there was no dine-on-demand service. The crew seemed bothered and at times even amused when you pressed the call button and asked for pretty basic things like a refill. No amenity kit provided. When asked for a comb and a toothbrush the cabin crew again seemed more annoyed than helpful and after a 'quick checking' told me that there were none onboard. What more can you say?

LHR-TKU. Both legs had quick layovers in HEL but they worked fine. Because of the Schengen rules the distance from the connecting international (non Schengen) to domestic flights at Vantaa is quite significant, but everything worked ok for me. The domestic flights are on the old finncomm planes and you need to get a bus to them on the other side of the tarmac, but everything is very efficient and organised and hard to fault. Otherwise, after 8 tortuous months of flying on low cost airlines, flying Finnair was excellent. Friendly staff. Free coffee and water. Sandwich was quite tasty. You even get hot towels. Both international flights had extra legroom.. quick and easy check in (online) and you don't have to worry about any extra fees. Would not hesitate to fly with Finnair again if the price is ok.

Hong Kong to Helsinki in business class on A340. Dinner service was very slow. It took more than an hour before service even started. There were not enough staff to serve drinks and food together, and refill of drinks were not offered until dinner was over. Most airlines give you some toiletries in business class, but there was nothing like that on this flight. The lavatories had soap, but that was it. No lotion, toothbrushes or any other essentials. Like many reviewers said, plane was old and tarnished. Seats are not flat in business; and still the seats were the best part of this flight.

Helsinki to Hong Kong. The plane was old, seats were cramped, worse than you expect on a long haul flight. This was clearly under par compared to other major airlines. On a positive note, the short haul from Amsterdam to Helsinki was excellent, but this was just a short haul flight.

SIN-HEL Seat 55A (2x4x2) on an A340. Plane was old and looked very tired. Seat was fair, not as much room as others I have flown on. Supposedly 32 inch pitch on the Finnair A340 - maybe on their newer planes. Service was average, one attendant was friendly and smiled - an older lady behaved as though she hated her job, was outwardly rude. IFE was quite poor, extremely old. Food was nice and beer was cold. Changed at HEL to another Finnair flight from HEL-CDG which was fantastic, and overall a much nicer flight.

Singapore to Helsinki . Pleasant flight, very comfortable seating. Staff were friendly. Good value, I recommend it.

CPH-HEL-PEK-HEL-CPH. Very efficient, a bit reserved but friendly, no fuss, easy transfer in HEL. Comfortable A330 on long legs. Plane delayed one hour out of PEK due to heavy traffic that gave me only 25 minutes transfer in HEL. Made it and so did my baggage! Will definitely fly Finnair to Asia again and love the human scale of HEL airport!

Amsterdam-Helsinki-Bangkok Business. Finnair get pretty mixed reviews so I was pleasantly surprised by my recent trip. The 2 hour flight Amsterdam-Helsinki was standard with the centre seat blocked, but there were only 4 of us in Business so the service was attentive with very chatty crew. Lunch was hot and reasonably tasty and plenty of drinks. Helsinki airport was really busy, but the lounge was peaceful if busy. A very limited range of food, but enough and good showers. A330 to Bangkok was new looking and very clean. With only 5 people in Business I had plenty of choice of seats. The seat converted to a fully flat bed with decent sized pillows and nice thick duvet. Choice of TV and films wasn't huge, but enough. The food was really good and tasty, if simple. Again the cabin crew were very professional and friendly.

Three of us bought tickets from Finnair. Our connecting flight was late about 10 minutes on arrival to Frankfurt leaving us only 50 minutes between flights. We rushed from one terminal to another passing security and passport control. We were at the gate about 2-3 minutes after closing while plane was still at the gate and connected by the tunnel. Of course they couldn't let us on board. We explained the situation later at the counter desk, but we got reply that 45 minutes is enough and we had 50 between flights, so they just cancelled our tickets including return tickets and asked 750 EUR to put us to the later flight that day only to get to Helsinki.

LHR-HEL-HEL-LHR. Quite shocked at the decline in services with this airline. Flights were on time. Dismayed at time of booking, asked to pay for seats yet no good seats available. When checking in online all front economy rows had available seats for free. Nothing is free any more with this airline. No newspapers, of course no free alcoholic drinks anymore either. The crew seemed a little indifferent and resigned to half service. On way out no announcements from the captain which was odd. On return had to fight for my seat as the airline had moved me from my chosen seat on row 6 to row 18! Only after much arguing was I reinstated to row 5. Food was ok way out (a sandwich) but bizarre on way back - something called chicken curry salad - no sauce so very dry! Not impressed even at low fare.

BKK-HEL-GVA-HEL-BKK in Business Class. Excellent flights in all respects, especially the wonderful service, food and wines and clean cabins. FAs extremely gracious and elegant and make a point of keeping eye contact. Helsinki Vantaa remarkably efficient for quick transfers and a major improvement over past years. Return GVA-HEL sector was operated by Flybe and, apart from a tight squeeze in the small business cabin, was also fine. I would rate my Finnair flights as 5-Star standard.

HEL-LPA-HEL. B752 is to be avoided even for 6hrs flight. Poor legroom, old cabin and poor seat cushion results back ache. Catering poor. Crew ok and attentive for selling goods and refreshments. What they have improved now, they don't aggressively demand passengers separate waste at table tray to make job easier for crew. Both flights were ahead of schedule, luggage came in 30min which is also a slight improvement for Finnair flight.

Helsinki to Funchal, Madeira, and back. Aircraft seemed old and shabby. The crew very insistently coaxed us to change seats to get more leg room for my boyfriend, yet in the new seats the leg room wasn't any better and we had to sit on either side of the aisle. Cold condensation water fell on me several times during the flight, very unpleasant. On the return flight, my shoes were ruined because of a used bubble gum that stuck to them apparently from under another seat. I have found the customer service very disappointing.

HKG-HEL-VIE-HEL-SIN. Outbound HKG-HEL sector was an old A340 (OH-LQG). This aircraft is best avoided but there is no way of finding out in advance. IFE broke down but was given a Finnair shop voucher. Flight smooth, cabin clean, quiet and seat comfortable. HEL-VIE-HEL on A319's. HEL-SIN was a much newer A340 (OH-LQD). All flights on time. Service good. Planes clean. For price, QF-AY (both oneworld) is recommended over middle eastern carriers. Very smooth transfer through Helsinki which is another plus point.

HEL-DEL-HEL on A330-300 in March 2013. Finnair has improved: both flights ahead of schedule, tasty and filling meals with an Indian vegetarian meal option both ways, good selection of IFE for a short flight (5 hrs 50 mins) on the way to Delhi and the fact that the plane leaves 10.45am on the way back to Helsinki (7 hrs) instead of midnight makes a big difference. Moreover, the new Delhi Int'l Airport was pleasant and hassle- free both ways which added to the positive experience.

AGP-HEL. Plane was an old Boeing 757. Very small seat pitch. I paid 8 euro extra for an exit seat but behind me was a tall man which made it very uncomfortable for me. Cabin crew indifferent. Two of five flight attendants very nice and friendly chatting with passengers, one male and one female FA very unfriendly. Catering poor, just a tiny chicken sandwich without any taste. Not free newspapers, like a low cost carrier. Very different flight as flight from Helsinki to Malaga couple of days earlier.

HEL-AGP. Very nice night flight. Superb cabin crew. Flight attendants very friendly and smiling. Tasty tapas plate offered. No free newspapers anymore.

RVN-HEL-LHR. Checking in at RVN was told that we would have to wait as there was a problem. Inbound flight from HEL was delayed meaning a 45 min connection to LHR wouldn't be possible. Finnair simply rebooked us on a later BA flight meaning a 60min extra in HEL. No fuss, no problem, dealt with Finnish efficiency. The 60 min flight was good with a drinks service.

LHR-HEL early flight, no problems, liked the fact on arrival at HEL baggage was on the belt waiting to be collected. Only downside, I would have thought a hot breakfast would have been provided on an 07.30 departure.

Manchester-Helsinki-Ivalo, first leg on flybe operated Embraers which were clean. Plane half empty on way back. Drinks selection and sandwich provided free of charge. Second leg on busy A321 with many tourists heading to Ivalo. Crew were pleasant. Overall a good experience.

Round trip, Dec/Jan, HKG-HEL-LHR. Late departure form HKG due to no plane but we had a flight crew waiting for it as well, left late, have to say we made up some time. Would have to say that the transfer through Helsinki would have to be the easiest and quickest l have come across, as my onward connection was tight due to the late arrival, having said all that l was quietly please with the end result. l would fly again with Finnair as l have found that this way to Europe is quicker.

Flew return to Amsterdam. Received free upgrade to business on return flight. Both flights were great and the upgrade a huge surprise to us. Excellent staff, service and food as good as any other airline. Connecting flight with Qantas was huge disappointment in comparison. Would highly recommend Finnair - only regret is sleeping during the business flight and not stopping overnight in Helsinki.

Geneva - Helsinki - Singapore. All flights on time and transfer easy at Helsinki. Planes fairly new and seats industry standard economy seats. Service efficient no frills. Meal ok. If you wanted a drink after the meal service, get out of your seat and go to the self service galley. Finnair is not a full service airline but was good value.

ZRH-HEL-PEK. First time long-haul with AY. Food on the short-haul flights were very good. The long- haul flights were quite disappointing. Return flight had no meal selection. I was disappointed that no pre- meal drinks were offered. The flight was long enough to offer this. Chinese Cabin Crew were quite unfriendly on both flights.

Leisure flight from Oslo to Varadero (round-trip). Quite new A330-300. Hard, not very comfortable seats. Maximum 30" pitch. (seat row 29, mid cabin). Service polite but very distant. I saw no crew members actually chatting with pax. Meals a big disappointment. No salad on main meal, one cold roll, small hamburger with pasta + chocolate cake. Snack before landing: meatballs. All drinks for sale, which is ok on a leisure flight. Headsets for sale, on outbound flight they had forgotten the headsets.

My trip from New York to New Delhi was good. On January 15, I missed my flight due to very heavy fog. I waited by the counter for over an hour before a representative appeared. After I explained my circumstances, he was of little help. Told the next 2 flights were fully booked and that my only recourse was to buy another ticket. My husband and I have travelled domestically and internationally and experienced problems. In every case except this one, the airlines involved bent over backwards to help us overcome any obstacles facing us. I am very disappointed in the lack of help from the Finnair representative in New Delhi. I had to buy a ticket on another airline.

Just returned to Australia after flights booked through Finnair. Overall not really impressed with the service. A change in our itinerary was our first upset-we never really got an explanation as to why. On our outward flight we sat on the plane for an hour whilst baggage was being loaded. The aircon wasn't functioning so we sat sweating for an hour. Cabin service was quite poor, just above a budget airline standard. We asked if we might have a drink and were brushed off and remained thirsty. During long legs the flight attendants were rarely seen outside of meal service. Overall not an airline I would rush to travel with again.

GOT-HKG return economy. First leg GOT-HEL, flight on time. Second flight HEL-HKG, 2hr delay because of de-icing the plane. Because of that we missed our connecting flight in HKG. Ground staff in HKG told us all onward flights were full but they managed to find space for 12-15 pax from our flight on the next connection. Food OK. Legroom was no problem and I am 6 ft 2. Return trip was no problem. Little bit delayed in HKG but landed in HEL on time.

SIN-HEL, AY082 on 5 January. Horrible flight, almost 4 hours delay, no food after take off, poor seats, old plane, seemed like flying in the 90's. The screen for the inflight entertainment looked like a toy. Breakfast, served 10 hours after take off was really bad. Due to the delay we missed our connecting flight in Helsinki and had to wait 8 hours at the airport with just a 17 euros voucher.

Helsinki-Beijing on the old A340 with grubby stained seats, terrible leg room, outdated entertainment system, average food and only one toilet at the back of the aircraft. Check-in staff in Helsinki not aware of China's policy of 24 hour visa free transit, had to get two different people to phone senior management before I was able to check in. Self check-in counters in Helsinki are a hindrance and don't save any time.

Stockholm - Helsinki - Bangkok return. A few problems with one plane that had to be swapped and another plane that had a technical problems on the way out. Barely made our connecting flight with another airline from Bangkok. Flight back was slightly delayed due to strong headwind but once again we just managed to catch our connecting flight. Seats on this new A330 were very comfortable. The service was OK with average food. We found it a bit cheap to not serve a free beer on the second meal, and it as also a bit to long between the meals on the 11.5 hour flight. The inflight entertainment could also be a bit better.

London to Bangkok (return/round trip), both via Helsinki. Very happy with Finnair overall. Cabin crew on all sectors competent and friendly with good attention to detail. The shorter LHR-HEL flights were fine, but nothing special. Business class seat was reasonably comfortable (in the 2-2-2 configuration) and the food was actually very good! The AVOD choices do need to be improved, but there was enough to keep me entertained. Finnair is also going in the right direction with a smaller "environmentally friendly" amenities pack, although you could ask the crew for items not contained in the pack. Helsinki airport transfer was very quick and easy. I would use Finnair again.

Round Trip OSL-BKK-GOT via HEL and HKK. Finnair New Airbus must have the worst economy seats ever fitted in an airplane, impossible to sit right. The food served in economy was inedible both to and from Bangkok, breakfast was served on Cathay flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok. In order to select a normal seat in economy, Finnair charges €56, it is not fair with a non budget airline, they only serve one alcoholic beverage with the first meal. I was offered beer or wine with my breakfast at 10 o'clock in the morning leaving Bangkok. Staff are friendly and service minded. Finnair has turned from a really good airline to a high priced budget carrier.

Toronto to Ekaterinburg (via Helsinki) and St Petersburg to Toronto (via Helsinki) return. I have been flying Finnair to Russia for many years based on their excellent connections and inflight service. In an age where inflight service by the major carriers is a constant complaint among air travellers, Finnair is a breath of fresh air. Their flight attendants are friendly and helpful. I ordered a vegetarian meal and was impressed with the quality of the food. I also like Helsinki airport for its modern efficiency and amenities.

HEL-SIN, Airbus A340-300. Flight on-time, crew attentive and smiling! The first meal served was produced by LSG in Germany and was definitely better than average meals Finnair is serving. Warm breakfast, not very tasty but definitely a must on a long-haul flights. IFE-system worked well but choice of movies is not very wide. Seats are comfortable, but a leg rest would be very nice on long-haul flights.

Business Class from London to New Delhi via Helsinki twice in last 6 months. Check in, transfer at Helsinki and baggage collection was fast, since it was business class. Standard seats from LHR to HEL, with the middle seat vacant. Fully flat seat from HEL to DEL (Airbus A330). Business lounge at Helsinki is very spacious. I must say the cost and staff service was good, but the real problem was with the food and entertainment. In business class you expect better quality food. Though I had pre-ordered vegetarian food, it was not up to the mark. I think rather than quality they give more stress on quantity. Also for entertainment, only some boring old movies were available.

Delays outbound on my latest trip and now I am sitting in Helsinki with another, a 10.35pm flight has now been rescheduled for 2.30am. Planes on the way out were dirty and you had to ask for toilet paper. Inflight entertainment systems did not work and flight attendants hung on to water as if it was rationed. The terminal is full of families, the delay has produced a couple of blankets, 3 security guards and 8 euros a passenger. We have of course missed our connection in Hong Kong so there will be more problems to come. Attendants are short with some of the passengers and seem to care little for the situation.

After reading the review I was quite sceptical about taking Finnair, but due to the low cost, I booked it anyway. I check in with zero expectation, and I was pleasantly surprised. The inflight entertainment from SIN-HEL worked fine, with some new movies. The food was typical airplane food. The service was generally good. The transit in Helsinki was a breeze and I was off to Paris. The service on the HEL-CDG sector was very good, however in terms of meal they only serve a sandwich and non alcoholic drinks. All in all if I would continue to receive such services I would continue flying Finnair.

I recently flew BRU-HEL-ICN (Seoul) and was very satisfied. Transfer in Helsinki was a breeze and with good cafes, shops and completely free wi-fi the time passed quickly. The 9 hour flight to Seoul was packed, but fine - staff were friendly and attentive, food was great and they brought water round regularly during the night. The choice of films was fairly limited, but this is only a minor grumble. Will certainly use them again.

HEL-ICN-HEL: Traveled Finnair for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. As advertised, their quick connections in HEL and short flight times to North-East Asia made for a comfortable journey. Food quality was not fantastic, but was decent enough on the whole, while service was attentive and friendly in both directions. PTVs had a limited selection of movies and shows but I guess it was good enough for a 9hr flight.

Would not recommend Finnair after our experience on two recent flights. Budapest to Helsinki we were given seats rows apart when our booked seats were unavailable due to downsizing of aircraft. Helsinki to Singapore, discovered dirty headphones in seat pocket, then found entertainment system did not work for the duration of our long flight. It appears from previous reports this is a regular problem. Amazed they are still members of One World Alliance.

As a Finn, I have to regret that our national carrier is not quite as it used to be. It is less reliable with increasingly frequent delays. No consistency in service quality anymore. Some connections are significantly worse than others. My recent flights between Beijing and Helsinki and Hong Kong and Helsinki, both economy and business, indicated major differences between the two routes to China. The Beijing route is no frills, in an old and run down jet, whereas the Hong Kong one has more recent equipment. The former had completely dysfunctional entertainment system with tiny, blurred screens, for example, and no flight information (time, distances etc.) but a single picture placing the plane over Asia. The poor staff were constantly asked about time by the passengers. Both flights had poor meals in the economy and the Hong Kong one excellent ones in the business. Overall the service is not bad, but the recent out sourcing and other such measures shows.

SIN to HEL and on to LHR. Priority boarding for business but my heart sank when I saw the plane was the tired old chartered ex Air France A340. Seats were bearable, the old lie flat type but after 20minutes we were told that the entire entertainment system didn't work and were offered an insulting EUR 20 voucher. For a flight of 12 hours this was totally unacceptable and the second time the system hasn't worked on the same plane (May 2012). Finnair please address this. Transfer to BA for next leg which was 10/10.

DEL-HEL-HEL. October 2012. Finnair uses leased A340s from Air France on this sector and it is very visible with the blue tray table and leg rests. Efficient check in and boarding. Finnair is strict on weight of cabin baggage - they actually checked it. During the Delhi - Helsinki flight, an additional round of drinks were served between the two meals which was welcome. Crew seemed friendly and efficient but not as warm as other airlines. Quality of food was very low - greasy and small in quantity probably because Finnair sells snacks in between meals. Return flight of six hours in the night was packed and crew did 4 hours of service for dinner and breakfast interspersed with announcements so ensured passengers did not get sleep. Cabin lights were not dimmed prior to take off and during landing. Average airline and not the best. Helsinki Vantaa airport was a breeze.