I tried Finnair’s new business class pods – and they’re a game-changer

LAST year, FINNAIR launched their brand new pods in business class – and they’re different to any other.

I tested them out on a flight from London to Singapore and was left very impressed.

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The airline’s spacious new AirLounge seat, designed with Collins Aerospace, was named the “Best New Business Class” for 2022.

Finnair also took home the Design Innovation Award 2022, for its stylish new long-haul Business Class, due to its “innovative and comfortable design”.

Launched in February last year, the new cabins sparked debate about their non-reclining seats.

However, I found this wasn’t a problem at all.

Each pod has a large enough seating area with a comfy armchair-style seat, and a high wall for privacy.

After all, how much do you recline at home, when you are either sitting on your sofa or lying in bed?

And when it needs to go down to create a bed, it easily becomes a long seat that has more than 6ft of space.

My only gripe was the curved design of the pods meant my knees sometimes bashed the wall of the seat in front of me.

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The other amenities of business class are also of a high standard.

The amenity kits, designed by Finnish brand Marimekko, featured L:A Bruket products including a lip balm and moisturiser.

And while there were three to choose from, I was slightly disappointed that the dinner option I wanted had sold out by the time they got to me at row 4.

I instead selected, for my three-course dinner, noodles in a coconut sauce which came with a chicken tartlet and corn puree, which was still a delicious choice.

Finnair is known for their blueberry juice – very delicious – so was pleased to see an option of blueberry mousse too for dessert.

Unlimited jasmine tea was a highlight, as well as the huge range of films and TV shows many of which were brand new.

And I loved the flight schedule with your meal and sleep times, so you know when to catch a bit of shut-eye.

After a quick stopover in Helsinki, I managed a full eight hours of sleep on the flight, feeling so well rested I was ready to go straight away after landing.

The new long-haul interiors are being rolled out across the fleet, and are currently being operated on select flights between London and Helsinki, all Finnair services to Doha, and on long-haul services from Finland to New York, Singapore, Tokyo, Phuket and Bangkok.

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