Flying to Lapland, or Finland, for Christmas? Things are about to get better
Probably my favourite European airline, Finnair, have announced the reintroduction of their A350 as well as A330 aircraft from London to Helsinki for specific services beginning from December. This represents a huge upgrade for anybody travelling on this route to travel to the city of Helsinki or further north to visit Father Christmas. These flights will operate daily. Despite not being yet loaded onto the Finnair website, I assume they will operate on the 10am (A350) and 6pm (A330) departures from London - as well as 8am/3pm from Helsinki. These operated prior to the pandemic before being downgraded to smaller aircraft due to reduced demand, with all other flights on the route likely to still use the A319/A320 aircraft.
Why does this matter?
If you’re only bothered about getting to Finland, quickly, cheaply and easily then Finnair isn’t the airline for you. If you like travelling in more comfort, with better amenities and superior experience then this is definitely who you should be travelling with. Just take a look at how much better the A350 Economy and Business seats compare with the smaller aircraft that have been operating.
Prices between London and Helsinki can vary, but are as high as GBP 300 one way during the festive season which is pretty expensive. Most other times of year, though, you can get one way flights from Heathrow at GBP 59 - and don’t forget that you can often upgrade cheaply on this route with Finnair’s last minute upgrades.
What about the rest of the UK and Ireland?
Unfortunately, other UK/IE cities won’t be getting the same A350/A330 treatment as London. Over the festive season:
Manchester and Dublin will get additional services to Helsinki
Edinburgh will continue as a thrice-weekly service
These are timed for convenient connections onto the wider Finnair network into Europe, Asia, North America - or those transiting onto domestic services like Rovaniemi, home of Father Christmas 😉.
Want to know more about Finnair?
I’ve written a number of articles about Finnair since starting the blog covering their in-air and on-the-ground experience, take a look below:
Finnair A320 review for Economy class
Finnair A350 Business Class from Helsinki to London review
Finnair are a solid airline and you will do very well to travel with them over the festive season or into 2022 and beyond.
