Superb Finnair 100 Business Class To Doha From Stockholm
Amidst tumultuous times marked by the pandemic and then the unexpected closure of Russian airspace, Finnair faced a formidable challenge. Its once-solid network advantage for European travellers connecting to far eastern destinations seemed to fade almost as swiftly as certain direct flights.
Yet, against this backdrop of adversity, Finnair’s resilience shone through. With strategic route adjustments and innovative partnerships, including wet-leasing aircraft to fellow oneworld carriers like British Airways and Qantas, the airline managed to weather the storm.
As the calendar turned to 2023, Finnair stepped into its centenary year, a milestone marked throughout the year. The centenary celebrations were replete with special events, from lounge adornments featuring bespoke cakes and memorabilia to the tantalizing Finnair 100 menu.
Though my last long-haul flight with Finnair was only in 2022, the prospect of stepping onboard once again was not any less exciting.
Flight Particulars
Route: Stockholm – Doha
Flight No: AY1983
Date: 18.11.2023
Departure Time: 16:10
Flight Duration: Blocked 6:45 minutes
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300 ( AirLounge Retrofit )
Seats/Suite: 1L Bulkhead
Check-In & Transfer
I had a separate flight booking arriving into Stockholm 4 hours before.
Having already checked-in with a mobile boarding pass, I arrived into Stockholm (about 20 minutes later than planned). I initially went for exit immigration as I thought I had plenty of time to go in again given Stockholm is a relatively small airport.
However, at immigration when they asked how long I intended to stay in Sweden, they directed me to instead just go via transit rather than going in and out again!
This was all fine and well. Except, transit operations were closed! I had to seek assistance through one of those inter-coms, following which I was advised someone will come to transfer me through in 20 minutes.
Lounge
When I eventually was able to transfer, I still had over 2 and half hours on my hands. Unfortunately, there came another problem…
I was transferred into a secure airside zone, which had no lounges. All lounges were in another area which would have meant me exiting and entering again?! I wondered how it was possible for a Scandinavian airport could be this terribly designed/organised !
The only thing accessible on this gate area was a grubby old “Cafe” serving up some coffee and basic snacks you’d find in a train station platform. If your flight regularly happens to depart from gates D15-D20 be very aware of transiting from ARN!
Not a great start to what I thought would be a seamless connection.
The silver lining is that I got to watch my arriving aircraft come into the gate..
In any case, Finnair does not have it’s own lounge in Stockholm despite operating many trans-continental flights from it now. The contract lounge on offer is your standard run of the mill Priority Pass lounge kind. I did not miss much really !
Finnair Business Boarding
I don’t know whether this was due to it being Stockholm or just that day/time, but boarding was rather haphazard. Almost all passengers were crammed into a small gate a full hour before boarding, presumably because there was no lounges?
When they finally were ready to board Business Class passengers, I almost had to elbow throw at least 20 people, as most passengers had nowhere else to go with all seats already taken !
I was greeted at the door by a friendly CSM who directed me to my seat across on the right side. The entrance is not quite as elegant for these retrofit A330 as they are on the A350’s but it’s still inviting with thick curtain dividers in the same new colour scheme.
I’ve made a post to specifically detail this new Finnair AirLounge Business Class, so I will not elaborate much further on the seat/cabin designs here other than share a couple of pics…
I had selected 1L, a bulkhead that has additional space..
It is by far one of the most spacious Business Class seat types out there currently.
The cabin to Doha was probably 90% occupied and it took a while for everyone to settle in.
Finnair Business Class Amenities
Already placed on my seat were 2 pillows, one larger and other more of a lumber support size..
Then there is a closed compartment right by your knees that revel an amenity kit, Finnair branded headphones and a bottle of water..
Under the seat, there was some slippers and full bedding set..
The headphones are ok, I’d say somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of comfort and quality
Having slippers provided for such a daytime flight was really appreciated! But best of all, was the full bed set!
Yes this includes a very decent mattress pad and quality comforter to get cosy in.
As for the amenity kit, it is exactly more or less the same Finnish design house Marimekko kit I received on my flight to Dubai in 2022. The winter 2023 update introduced another colour variant of the pouch and changed the toothbrush set 😛
The L:A Brucket lip balm and face cream are good. Though the issue I have with the lip balm is that due to organic contents the ingredients can separate with small crystals forming and leaving a more runny content.
Now be careful where you put it, it got squashed in my backpack and spilled onto a white tee! Thankfully it did not stain as I got my hotel to clean it the next morning.
Finnair 100 Business Class To Doha Service
Within mere seconds of setting foot into my seat, I was offered a welcome beverage, for which I opted for champagne..
Whilst on the subject of time and anniversaries, did you know these iconic Ultima Thule Champagne glasses were designed over 50 years ago?! A design by inspired Lappland’s melting ice no less!
Finnair serves Joseph Perrier Cuvee Royale Brut which I find to be decently light with hints of fruit. But the glass was certainly more expensive than the pour in it.
As passengers were still boarding, the crew noticed my empty glass and offered me a champagne top up, but I requested the signature Blueberry juice instead..
Post take off, the service started with hot towels. They were little on the thin side but still very much appreciated !
Another thing I liked about Finnair which they’ve done for a while now is you get a nice breakdown of your flight and service timing so you can prepare accordingly..
United also do this, but I am really puzzled as to why not ALL airlines do this. Especially with airlines that do not offer dine-on-demand, I think it’s rather important especially on those odd timed flights where you are never quite sure so you can prepare your rest/sleep time accordingly.
The full flight menu is available via the IFE..
But for completeness the menu was as follows:
My post take-off Ginger mule was served with some nuts..
The format of Finnair’s meal services have changed somewhat. You no longer have a choice of starters, but are served two different cold starters by default. You do choose you main out of 3 options and dessert out of 2 options.
With starters being set, I opted for the Burnt Beef end with potato gratin, tomato compote and vegetables.
The starters and main all arrived in one tray…
As you can appreciate, the meal was wonderfully presented.
Mashed pumpkin with grilled salmon was a new combination for me, I think it worked well. Together with the green pea hummus, trumpet mushroom and carrot felt like a super healthy and hearty start to a meal. If I had to critique something, it was a little on the bland side for me.
The main however was flavoursome with perfectly done beef that almost melted in the mouth. Finally the potato gratin completed a very well balanced meal.
I was impressed with the catering, which I learn is actually loaded from Helsinki and ferried onto Stockholm.
The crew were quite quick to clear the plates when I was finished and offer the cheese plate.
Hint if you love that signature Blueberry juice drink, the crew are more than happy to mix you up a drink with it !
The cheese plate was fairly small, but in a way perfect because you can actually finish it and then still enjoy a dessert !
And off course, being a lover of said Blueberry Juice and generally all things Blueberry, I had to order the Blueberry Crumble Cake!
This was simply delicious. I could have easily washed down another one but I resisted 🙂
As the dinner service was wrapping up, the beautiful glow of the sun setting filled the entire cabin…
I decided to have a further toast to the occasion !
Pre-Landing Service
With this being a relatively short long haul, the crew started the second service 1 hour before landing.
This time I opted for the northern blush cocktail to go with it.
It was an Arabic feta cheese and pickled vegetable wrap served with some fresh fruits and nuts. I wasn’t particularly hungry but it was I ate it all as it was good !
As we were landing just before midnight, I wanted to get some good sleep when I got out and into the hotel so ordered some hot chocolate too
Finnair In-Flight Entertainment
Finnair have a decent selection of programming in it’s IFE system. You will have plenty of films/documentaries/boxsets to watch and the quality of the screen and setup is very good and responsive
With this flight length I just about managed to watch one film and I was more than happy just to watch the flight map app, which is good !
WiFi & Connectivity
Between 2017-2018, I had enjoyed full internet access for the entire flight for several of my Finnair flights to Asia. I’m not sure if I was booking a particular fare type or my oneworld status.
Finnair now offer complimentary Messaging for entire flight for all Finnair Plus members. Regular Business Class passengers have 1 hour of full internet access. This is also available for Finnair Gold Members for 30 minutes.
Outside of that you can purchase full internet package for entire flight at a price of €24.95. Note, pricing and complimentary offers seem to vary from time to time !
Finnair AirLounge Business Class Bed
After dinner and finishing my film, I made up the bed for a short rest.
It converts into a rather spacious and long bed indeed..
I found the bedding provided to be very good and felt very comfortable, I could have easily fallen asleep.
For those of us with a warm body, you’d be happy to know Finnair has retained the individual air vents in this seats so you can control the temperate should you need to!
Overall Thoughts
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my flight and was very impressed, both with the new Business Class product and the service and catering.
The unique hard product is one of the roomiest Business seats out there now with plenty of storage options and the latest tech integrated. I like that they’ve then followed through with improving the soft touches such as pillows and providing a proper mattress pad, which was lacking in my previous Finnair flight to Bangkok/Singapore/Hong Kong.
The Stockholm based crew were warm, friendly and proactive. Everything just flowed really well. I don’t know if this was because the crew were Swedish or younger but I’ve sometimes find Finnair crew to be a little too sterile.
For this particular flight, I really could not have asked or wished for anything more !
It would see Finnair have turned a corner for the better. I have an ultra long haul flight coming up in a few months so I will report back!