Finnair today took delivery of the first of its brand new Airbus A350-900 aircraft today.
Finnair A350-900 on delvery day – Image, Airbus.
With Finnaor accepting delivery of the A350, they become the launch operator of the type in Europe.
Finnair will be using these aircraft to grow its operations to Asia as it will take delivery of nineteen A350 aircraft to its fleet.
In terms of seating, the aircraft will be configured in a three-class configuration:
- 46 Business Class seats in 1-2-1 formation
- 43 Economy Comfort seats in 3-3-3 formation
- 208 Economy seats 3-3-3 formation
- Total 297 seats
In terms of operations, the big route launch will be between Helsinki and Shanghai from the 21st November 2015 (and the route is currently on sale).
In the meantime, Finnair will be flying an intensive programme in Europe as it gets used to A350, with the plane meant to be entering service on the 9th October with a flight between Helsinki and Amsterdam.
The airline will be receiving another three A350s during the remainder of 2015, and with another due for delivery in early 2016.
And as these aircraft enter service… there are plans afoot – with further expansion in China coming.
If you want a peek inside an A350 from an economy class perspective, I’ve flown it back and forth between Frankfurt and Doha with Qatar Airways. Click here for the outbound and here for my inbound reviews to see why I think the A350 is an aircraft worthy of your attention.
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