(upbeat electronic music)
- Snow in April.
Treacherous weather in Paris today,
it's going to fly up north to Helsinki.
You don't have to wear a mask now if you're
vaccinated at the airport,
even inside the airport here in Paris.
(upbeat electronic music)
I just got on board this Finnair A320 to Helsinki,
and I think we need a de-icing because
it's snow in April, sideways blowing,
I can't believe it in Paris.
Hopefully Helsinki is better weather.
And I think you probably know the reason
I'm going to Helsinki, right?
I'll be flying the new Finnair Business Class
on the A350 back to London tomorrow.
- [Announcer] So now we been de-icing
of the wings and stabiliser.
This will take a few minutes.
(plane engine roaring)
(atmospheric music)
- We waited on the ground for almost
three and a half hours.
Now we're finally airborne.
I was told it was not only the weather,
it was the industrial action as well.
And the consolation prize is
now I have a hot lunch.
You know, I don't like the European business class,
'cause it's the same as economy seating,
but I do like the culinary.
(atmospheric music)
(plane engine decelerates)
- [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Helsinki.
- Bye, sir, thank you.
- So landed and just picked up by Elliot and
his friend John here in that Volvo behind us.
And now we're going onto the snow,
do some plane spotting.
- Yeah.
- [Sam] Why Finnish people like Volvo?
- They're reliable and Nordic.
- [Sam] Nordic.
We're in the position for plane spotting.
Just, this is pretty cool side by the runway.
Now there's some Finnair 320, 321.
I'm excited for this because I don't see them.
But a local spotter like Elliot must get bored,
super bored with this kind of traffic.
- Yeah, for me it's just every day.
- [Sam] Yeah we hope to see the 350 later on.
That's how Finnish spotters spotting, from the tree.
(plane engine roars)
(digital keyboard clicking)
Morning, back at Helsinki airport,
today flying on the new A350 cabin to London.
Now going into the Finnair lounge,
have a quick breakfast.
(atmospheric music)
The lounge is very, very quiet,
and had a little quick breakfast.
Now going out to see the plane.
(atmospheric music)
We had a little delay for this morning.
Hopefully the efficiency will pick up.
The gate area is also a little bit crowded,
but excited to try out the Finnair new product today.
(atmospheric music)
First impression of the seat,
very strange actually it's very wide
but the leg room is very limited.
It's sitting very upright and you know
there's, feels like, just a shell here
- You have any hand luggage,
you can just stow it underneath the seat.
- [Sam] You mean stow your luggage
in here, underneath?
- [Flight Attendant] Yeah.
- [Sam] How do you do,
okay, just underneath here.
Ahhh.
- It's a very early flight, but lots of passenger
landed from Thailand, Singapore, Australia,
and connecting onto this flight.
That's why they're able to run
a very big aeroplane, A350.
(engines whirring)
(foreign language)
- Good morning.
My name is Marty, I'm the captain in this flight
to London Heathrow this morning.
We'll be flying today at flight 4, 3, 0, at 43,000 feet
at the cruising speed of 0.85 Mach.
The flight time will be sorted and normally
on the narrow bodies with this higher speed,
so we're going to fly to London Heathrow in
2 hours and 22 minutes.
- [Sam] Is 43,000 the highest level
you can go on the A350?
- Yeah, that's true.
So as a lightweight, we are able to
immediately climb up to maximum cruise level.
- One positive thing I say about the seats
is it's really private.
You have your cocoon here
and I can't see my neighbour
sitting across the aisle, honestly.
- [Flight Attendant] So here you can find the compartment
for your things, for water bottle,
for anything else during the flight.
- [Sam] Oh, this is storage?
- [Flight Attendant] This is actually not storage,
but you can have have here your mobile phone,
you can charge your mobile phone,
you have here the call bell for the cabin crew.
(atmospheric music)
- 62.
(foreign language)
D one.
(plane engine roars)
(radio voices speaking)
(atmospheric music)
- Are you wanting a bed now?
- Yeah I struggled because I didn't know
the button, how do you make the bed?
- [Flight Attendant] Yeah, this should be up like this,
and then we start operating this one upwards.
You want me to, so just lift your feet.
- [Sam] Oh, this comes up.
- [Flight Attendant] Yes, that comes up there.
- [Sam] And that's it. Ah, it doesn't go flat.
- [Flight Attendant] Because the seat back doesn't recline
- [Sam] This seat back doesn't recline.
Okay, oh I have the leg rest split.
So I just need to slide in, oh.
- [Flight Attendant] And then you have these two pillows
to make yourself comfortable.
- [Sam] Okay. Gotcha, very simple actually.
I'm a bit embarrassed to say I couldn't figure
out how to recline the seat,
so I called the flight attendant over,
and it turned out the seat back
doesn't recline, it's only the leg rest come up,
and then you just slide inside the pod
and it goes fully flat.
It's very long, I'm 6'1", and I'd say 6'4",
you have no problem and your feet
doesn't touch the wall.
The only thing with this kind of seat is
your feet go inside the box, and then
when you turn, toss around, you know,
the box might hit your leg,
and that's the only downside I felt.
(atmospheric music)
They're busy serving meals from the front.
I came down to check out premium economy and economy.
Seems like they giving free upgrade
for people sitting premium economy
and people get to choose the seats on the seat map.
Best seats in the economy is row 31.
You know, bulkhead seats, really
lots and lots of leg room.
- You have a ham and cheese omelette today.
- [Sam] Only one choice?
- Only one choice, yes.
- [Sam] Okay.
- Here you are, sir.
- [Sam] Okay, and now the tray looks better.
- [Flight Attendant] Can I get you anything else?
- [Sam] No, I'm good, thank you.
- [Flight Attendant] Enjoy your meal.
- This is blueberry juice.
- [Sam] Blueberry juice.
Why Finnish people like blueberry juice?
I heard this is famous, right?
- Yes, we have a lot of blueberries in our forest.
- [Sam] You do have a lot of blueberries?
- Yes.
- Just finished my food.
And I'm glad to say,
I think this is the most comfortable position.
It's in a cradle, and enjoying entertainment
in your own cocoon.
(atmospheric music)
- [Sam] So I met a fellow Australian.
What's your name?
- Dennis.
- [Sam] Dennis.
Yeah, so first time flying this seats, I bet.
- It is.
This layout feels comfortable
but I haven't had a chance to fully explore
the whole gamut of a what it will do.
Lovely big screen, I like that.
But it feels good and comfortable.
I think it's better than the former A350 layout.
Perhaps the seating, I like the seat movement
in the A350, the former one.
I like the way that seat moves.
You got to go and try that toilet,
because it's got the best view
out the window that I've ever seen.
- [Sam] So that sounds like the best seat
is in the toilet.
I'm going to try it out.
- Well, the window, I've not seen a better
a better view out out a toilet.
In fact, I'd quite happily sit on the toilet seat,
look out the window for the rest of the trip.
- We were looking at this mirror, this decoration, yeah.
- It's brilliant.
How's that going to be?
I can see young people would love this new layout
because that's the way they live,
that they lounge, and a lot of them
can sit cross-legged.
I haven't got a hope.
- I heard the seats is very light
because there is no electro-mechanism.
You have to slide yourself,
slide your bodies, right?
I feel there is some pros and cons,
but it's very subjective,
everyone have their own preference
of business class seats.
Some people like open style,
some people like cocoon style.
I felt that there was a lot of Nordic touch.
The wood on the table,
you know, the blue cocoon here
and maybe this is also noise cancelling,
this is really done right.
There's a very calm feeling on board
on this flight and very low noise as well
on the A350.
Now, in the full sleep mode,
to be fair this was a very short flight,
I didn't really try out that much.
I only tried it 10, 15 minutes.
I suspect I have to go for
a longer flight to try it out.
In May they're going to go to Dallas, Singapore,
and some other routes,
and that's where the time to give a
try to see if you can sleep well for extended hours.
(atmospheric music)
- [Captain] Hundred above.
- Minimum
100
50
40
30
20
Retard.
10
5
(plane landing)
(atmospheric music)