Finnair to launch Melbourne-Helsinki flights

Wow this is great news. 

This is great news. However, I've recently flown Finnair long haul in economy and I would best describe it as a spruced up low cost carrier. No choice of meals, food in a box, no pillows, only one free alcoholic drink for the whole flight... I understand Finnair has had to face many challenges in recent years, but it's also a shell of its former self.

Any word on whether Qantas will codeshare on this route like the currently do with other Finnair flights?

Wow, I did not see this coming!  But it's fantastic news!  Finnair's business class prices and value are hard to beat!  I'm also a Finnair Gold member so I will definitely be using this service.

If this route is a success, I feel we will start seeing more European airlines coming to Australia. The demand between Australia and Europe is crazy high and I feel like airlines haven't really taken advantage of it.

Finnair can't be any choice at all for a Business Class flight with seats like this.

I cannot imagine long haul in such an advanced aeroplane as the A350 that  does not have a reclining Business Class seat. NO WAY I would even give a moments thought to any Business Class seat that does not recline. Would be abysmally uncomfortable on an 11  hour flight!! Even a few hours would be dreadful.  What on earth were they thinking when they made this choice or more correctly it would appear they were NOT thinking at all.

Finally a direct a MEL to BKK flight to take advantage of Qantas status, rather than flying Jetstar, or travelling via Sydney.  Qantas is missing out on a huge amount of business given Emirates flying 3 times a day to Europe, Thai and now Finnair to BKK.  

I will look at booking this if I can line a cruise up as well, great to see the option, actually what about Finnair Around the world specials that will be interesting.

I’ve always enjoyed their flights between Helsinki and Tokyo so this is welcome news. Got to wonder whether Australia will still be part of their strategy once (if) they’re able to resume flying over Russia to their traditional Asian destinations.  

This is great news and gives travellers another option. I've had a mixed experience with Finnair. Prior to COVID I travelled them and they were fantastic. Last year I flew them Helsinki to Hong Kong where I transferred to Cathay Pacific. The service was almost as good as Cathay's but the catering and product in my opinion was way below that of Cathay. I hope that is the exception rather than it being the norm

This is such a weird surprise!

HEL is a dream to transit, but how on earth is this daily? Fascinated by this. Winter travel between Finland and Thailand is huge, so is there a market to stretch it to Australia (surely not, the price point is vastly different); or is the idea that there is enough MEL-BKK travel that the two legs effectively operate discretely??

You left out a great little fact- The Helsinki “Platinum Wing” lounge (which welcomes OneWorld Emerald members,  Qantas Platinum/Plat Plus has a SAUNA! It’s a great way to relax before a long haul flight. (And even AFTER , on arrival INTO Helsinki, if your onward flight isn’t too soon)

Oh, and the Sky Lounges? They are great. You still get to lie 100% flat. You just need to shuffle down so your feet are under the TV.

Flew Finnair SIN-HEL a few years back, business.  Can't recall the seats then (pre covid) but I remember the food was good;  however I was pinged by a flight attendant for using a wireless mouse with my laptop LOL.

 I have just flown them yesterday. LAX-HEL-PRG and I did not realize they have gone low cost. when you board the plane, you only get blanket. No pillow. The service is very slow, I was in economy and it took them three hours to do the service and clean it. There was only four flight attendants for the whole economy section. One and a half hours after takeoff - they served a meal. There is no options except of one small box of chicken and Strange rice. It is very hard to describe the size of the box. It is the size of about two credit cards put next to each other…. a child would be hungry after that. Fortunately, I have eaten at LAX in the lounge beforehand.

The seats are very cramped and very uncomfortable. You only get one beverage. Wine or beer. and only during the meal. Otherwise you pay eight Euros. The customer service is appalling. I have never seen three passengers in front and at the back and next to me complain to the purser. They were very polite, but very upset about the whole experience.

I would highly recommend not to fly Finnair until they get their service back to normal standards. I do not see how Australians who have been pampered with some of the best Asian and Middle Eastern Airlines would fly to Helsinki to transfer to Europe with this airline. The route will be much longer than one stop Middle East transfer. or they might decide that they’re gonna do a different service for this particular route? Not sure. But until you can confirm that you can get a normal service, definitely avoid them at all cost. I have found them last year from Helsinki to Dallas, and although it was bare bones, then, it was not as awful as this one.

This is great news allowing additional options for MEL - BKK which is currently served by Thai and Jetstar only for direct services.  Finnair already doing 2x daily for HEL - BKK.  If they are not tagging on to any of the existing HEL - BKK flights, and looks like they are not going to, this means 3x daily for HEL - BKK as the timing is spread out for all 3 flights providing more time options for passengers.  

HEL - BKK:  13:50 - 06:05 and 20:55 - 13:15.  The one connecting to MEL would be 00:05 - 16:30.

BKK - HEL:   08:00 - 1535  and 15:00 - 22:35.   The one connecting from MEL would be 22:45 - 06:05.

Singapore could be the other option for Finnair but MEL - SIN is heavily trafficked by Singapore Airlines (5x daily), Jetstar (1daily), Qantas (2daily). MEL - HKG is dominated by CX and QF.  BKK is definitely a great option.  

I wonder if Finnair have overlooked the Brisbane demographics.

We are desperate for new routes to Europe and since the pandemic we had a large inflow of residents from elsewhere in Australia so our population has increased considerably.  And we will be hosting the Olympics in 2032. 

When I last looked, the choice from Brisbane with a view to getting to Europe, was Vietjet to Ho Chi Min City or Hanoi, Singapore Airlines via Singapore, Jetstar to Bangkok, Batik and Malaysian to Kuala Lumpur, China Eastern to Beijing or Shanghai, China Southern to Guangzhou, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Virgin Australia Batik and Jetstar to Bali, Eva and China Airlines to Taipei, Korean and Jetstar to Seoul, Philippines Airlines to Manila, Jetstar to Cebu, and of course various Qantas and Emirates flights on the usual routes.

Notably absent are any European airlines.

Surely the large majority of passengers using this service will either be HEL / BKK or else MEL / BKK ??? The latter boosted strongly via code sharing with Qantas . Not really much demand for flights between Melbourne and Finland.....

Flown 6 flights with FinnAir.  No back pain. Crew on Singapore - Helsinki much better than Bangkok - Helsinki 

Having read the negatives on biz class on Finnair, i decided to try it in Sept this year. It was hard for me to describe. It was ok but i found the sofa bed was a bit too firm for my liking. Agreethat you have to reposition to be comfortable. However, if you are a tall person the the leg rest will be difficult for you to be comfortable. I found the foot rest to be at an odd angle. The Thai crew were going about their business with not so much of an interaction. And firgot about my Bloody Mary pre dinner drink which i kept quite about. Last year i went on their premium econmy, the fligh thai crew were-more interactive and friendly but the return night trip from Bkk to Syd was a nightmare as the 2 crew members talked all night in the galley as i was on the front  row. I felt like asking them to lower their voices but i didnt. Overall i still prefer the biz class seats on Qantas and Emirates. After all, it boils down to a persons preference

The MEL-BKK is a huge benefit

For those doubters, I am 195cm and find this seat fantastic, but it does polerise people. I am sure this flight will be priced more premium than the connecting through partners, but Finnair is often 2/3 the price of QF and ME3 and transfers in HEL can be done in as little as 30 minutes safely

The seat is super hard and fiddly when it comes to the foot rest bit. Yeah you can lie flat very comfortably but I for one would pass on it given the choice of other more conventional J seats. That said, if the price is super competitive with the ME 3 and Asian carriers who am I to complain. The HEL platinum wing is a beautiful spot to transit in and HEL on the whole is a calm, relatively small space when it comes to navigating the terminal. As mentioned already, everything else is nothing to write home about-except the lovely signature blueberry juice! I will add that the seat concept hasn't really taken off with other carriers. There is a significant negative opinion from experienced travellers. As the crew from SYD-BKK told me recently,  "50% love the seat, 50% hate it".

Has anyone found any classic award availability to this new route yet? 

I’m not surprised Finnair is trying this route. Its home airport in Northern Europe once gave it a geographical advantage in providing efficient connections from the US and Europe to Asia (China, Japan, etc.) but now has to fly much longer routings to avoid Russian air space. So it has dropped several Asian routes that are no longer economically viable and is trialling alternative routes to fill the gap. 

As for those wondering why we don’t see more European carriers - there’s a reason for that - they struggle to complete against the Gulf and Asian carriers as they typically have a higher cost base and can’t match the frequency or choice offered by Emirates, Singapore, et al. 

It should be Sydney I don’t see a Melb route lasting