I took a Finnair flight from London to Helsinki on an Airbus A350. I liked the themed decor and free blueberry juice, but found some features a bit basic.

This is what my flight was like.

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• I took a Finnair flight from London to Helsinki on an Airbus A350. 
• I enjoyed the complimentary blueberry juice and the airline's sleek Finnish design. 
• But I was surprised that I couldn't get the Wi-Fi to work.

I took a three-hour flight from London to Helsinki using the Finnish flight operator Finnair. I enjoyed the flight but thought it was missing some extra touches. Here's what it was like. 

I in June I took a Finnair flight from London to Helsinki.

My plane before departure.

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Finnair is not thought to be a low-cost airline and the price of the ticket reflects that.

 The cheapest Finnair return fare for this route is £173 ($212).

My ticket was £335 ($410) return in basic economy class, with no checked luggage. I bought the ticket the day before my flight, which likely affected the cost.

I was headed to Finland to report on a groundbreaking nuclear waste disposal site. Insider covered the cost of the trip, including this flight, per its reporting policies.

Finnair is one of the world's oldest operating airlines and offers routes from Europe to Asia.

An Aero flight attendant is shown pictured in 1953.

Finnair

This company was founded in 1923 under the name Aero. Helsinki is its home airport, which serves as a connecting hub between Europe and Asia.

Boarding was done in groups, it was quick and efficient

I left Heathrow at 10 a.m. on a Thursday for Helsinki.

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I took the plane from London's Heathrow on a Thursday morning.

I left at 10:20 a.m. local time for the flight of two hours, 55 minutes. Finland is two hours ahead of the UK, so my local landing time was 3:15 p.m.

The plane I took was an Airbus A350.

Finnair's airbus 350 seen before boarding.

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This plane is Finnair's flagship, used for short and long-haul flights. It is a mid-sized plane that fits about 300 passengers.

The cabin was bright and the lights on the ceiling added a touch of blue and white.

Blue and white are Finnair's brand colors and also happen to be the colors on the Finnish flag.

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The flight was not too crowded and there was an empty seat between me and another person. 

Here I am onboard the plane.

Marianne Guenot on the plane.

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The seats were comfortable, had adjustable headrests, and could be reclined.

The seats had comfy adjustable headrests.

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The seats had adequate leg space, even in economy

The legroom situation.

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I'm relatively tall, and I could fit in the seat without feeling wedged in.

The seats all came equipped with a wide screen.

Finnair pics

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The screen had a USB port which I used to charge my phone.

A USB charger.

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Earphones were offered with economy seats.

Earphones.

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The earphones were basic and had a two-pronged jack. I preferred to use my personal headphones with the screen. 

A selection of recent movies was offered free to view.

A movie selection onboard

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There was a wide variety of recent movies to pick from, even though this was not a long-haul flight. 

An on-board camera showed the view from above and below the plane.

Here is the view of the plane from below, before departure.

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Here is the view shown by the camera after takeoff.

The view from the camera on the plane.

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This was nice as I was sitting in an aisle seat, so didn't have a good view of outside through the window.

The windows were wide.

The view from the window.

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The plane was peppered with touches from Marimekko, a Finnish designer famed for its original prints.

The stylish pillow cases were designed by Marimekko.

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Marimekko has been a staple of Finish design since 1951. 

Another Marimekko print, here seen on a cup.

The paper cups were also designed by Marimekko.

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Another Marimekko print, here seen on the plane itself.

A Marimekko print is shown on the plane, seen from an onboard camera.

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I passed the time with a game of Angry Birds, a game developed by a Finnish company.

The onboard entertainment system had a travel-specific version of Angry Birds.

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Finns are proud of the franchise, which was created by Finland's Rovio Entertainment. There is a theme park dedicated to Angry Birds in the city of Tampere.

Finnair offered on-board Wi-Fi...

Finnair offers onboard Wi-Fi.

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...for a fee.

There was an option to buy Wi-Fi for an hour, 3 hours, or for the entire flight.

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The Wi-Fi could be bought for fidelity points or money, here's what it cost: 

• €7.95 ($8.50) for an hour.
• €11.95 ($12.50) for three hours. 
• €19.95 ($21) for the whole flight, which was just over three hours. It's unclear why anyone would pick this one. 

But I wasn't able to make it work.

I couldn't make the internet work on my flight.

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Onboard the plane were normal-sized bathrooms, but also a wide bathroom, which had handles for people with reduced mobility.

The plane had a larger bathroom, in which I could stretch out my arms.

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About halfway through the flight, the flight attendants came through offering drinks.

A flight attendant with a drinks cart.

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Drinks other than water or blueberry juice, as well as light snacks, could be purchased onboard. 

The airline is famous for its blueberry juice.

I was excited to try the blueberry juice.

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The juice was launched in 2014, using the wild blueberries that grow abundantly in Finland and surrounding nations.

Per Finnair, the juice is made from wild blueberries, also known as bilberries.

Unlike US supermarket-bought blueberries, these berries are purple in the middle instead of yellow, and tend to be smaller.

In late 2020, the airline started selling the blueberry juice in Finnish supermarkets.

Marika Nieminen, the executive responsible for Finnair's food output, said at the time that it was a way to give Finns a taste of travel while COVID-19 had made it difficult to go abroad.

In 2021, the airline reformulated the recipe to remove grape juice concentrate and make blueberries the only fruit in the juice.

It was a lovely red color.

The blueberry juice was a lovely pinkish-red color.

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It was a little too sweet for my taste, though it was quite moreish and definitely worth trying. 

If you want a drink other than blueberry juice or water, you need to pay.

Finnair pics

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Finnair is not considered a low-cost airline, so I was surprised that they didn't offer more options or any food.

All in all, it was a pleasant flight.

I tasted the blueberry juice.

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 The noise in the plane was kept to a minimum.

Flight attendants were courteous and professional. One attendant managed to quickly resolve a squabble between someone sitting next to me and a passenger who objected to him reclining his seat. 

 

Here I am in Helsinki.

The plane, on arrival in Helsinki.

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