LONDON — Finnair (AY) has been serving London Heathrow Airport (LHR) for 70 years. The roughly 1,950km route is currently served by the Finnish flag carrier up to four times daily with a mix of Airbus A320s, A321s, A330-300s, and A350-900s. They also plan on increasing their service from four to six daily rotations. 

The flight time on the Airbus fleet takes between two and a half and three hours; however, it used to be slower. Back when AY started their service, on the 1st of September 1954, the route would take roughly eight hours each way, often longer.

Included in that journey time were two fuel stops in each direction, in Düsseldorf and Copenhagen. The service was initially inaugurated with a Convair 440 Metropolitain, with just 42 seats. For perspective, Finnair’s Airbus A350’s have close to 300.

These services were not cheap either, with them being marketed at £1,900, or 55,200 Finnish Marks, compared to today's average of £174 in economy or £546 in business. Furthermore, the Metropolitain’s cabin was small, to say the least. Those £1,900 would buy you a seat on a slow, loud propliner. There was no inflight entertainment, no lie-flat seat, and no Finnair blueberry juice.

The service was upgraded over the years and steadily brought into the jet age. The route would soon feature Douglas DC-9s and DC-10s, which could not only carry more passengers than the Metropolitan but also make it to London non-stop.

70 years later, Airways was invited to share the occasion. Though small, the celebrations were still special, taking place across all of AY's flights from LHR that day. At the gate, passengers were offered a complementary box of sweets and a welcome song by the fabulous Finnair Choir, who serenaded the passengers with a welcoming song before boarding commenced.

AirLounge Seats

The flight we were invited on was AY1332, and we were invited to experience AY's highly acclaimed “AirLounge” business class seats. These seats have somewhat bucked the trend with what’s acceptable in a business-class product, and it’s safe to say they do not disappoint. 

These seats differ from regular business class seats as they have no recline and feature only one moving part: the leg rest. Inspired by the world’s many floor-sitting cultures, these seats allow passengers to sit crosslegged and conventionally. This added passenger-seat flexibility makes the seats very spacious and ergonomically well-designed. 

Throughout the flight, AY pulled out all the stops in appreciation of this special anniversary in their history. Not only was the food delicious and their signature blueberry juice flowing no end, but the choir sang three times to each cabin during the flight to mark the occasion and was naturally met with many rounds of applause.

Comments from Finnair Officials

To mark the occasion, Anssi Partanen, Finnair Market Director Europe, said, “We are incredibly proud to be celebrating 70 years since our first flight took off for London, and it is great to see how much the route has evolved since 1954.”

Adding to Partanen’s comments, Spencer Adaway, Team Heathrow Director, said, “We are delighted to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Finnair flights between London and Helsinki. The route’s inauguration in 1954 was a historic moment for both cities, and Heathrow is proud to continue working with our partner airlines to improve international connectivity.”

Finnair is a proud airline with a long history. Not only has it served the British capital for 70 years, but it also celebrated its centenary in 2023. 

We don’t yet know all of the airline's plans, but AY has always been a pioneer who isn’t afraid to take a chance on creating something new and augmenting the passenger experience.