Old Mar 1, 2014, 8:31 am
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Last edit by: hillrider
Finnair is replacing slanted lie-flat J class seats with horizontal lie-flat seats, the Zodiak UK Vantage, on its long-haul fleet.
For more information, see Finnair's website here.

Overall upgrade program status
As of 05DEC14 the following have the new horizontal seats in J:
  • 57% of the 343 fleet (4 of 7 aircraft)
  • 100% of the 333 fleet (8 of 8 aircraft)
  • equivalent to 80% of the long haul fleet (12 of 15 aircraft)

Routes with horizontal full-flat business class seat
As of the dates below, all flights on listed routes will normally be performed by aircraft with horizontal full-flat seat in business class. Routes not listed will mainly be served by the older A340s or a mix of old & new, supply allowing.

2014-04-01 - NRT, JFK
2014-05-01 - PEK, ICN
2014-06-01 - PVG, KIX, NGO and HAN (seasonal)
2014 winter - HKG (seasonal) *)

*) Original press release stated HKG full-flat from 2014-06-01. Some flights are indeed scheduled with new J, but current info on AY website says HKG full flat only during winter season.


Please note that AY can and will swap aircrafts due to operational reasons, and there is no guarantee a certain route will be served by a certain aircraft. It is a very small fleet and any technical issue not resolved in a few hours will lead to equipment changes, which will have a domino effect throughout the fleet.

Individual upgrade status of each plane
As of 05DEC14 (click on RegNo for seatmap)
Code:
Airbus A340

RegNo	Full flat since
------	------------
OH-LQA	Old slanted seats
OH-LQB	2014-03-27
OH-LQC	2014-05-29
OH-LQD	2014-04-21
OH-LQE	2014-05-16
OH-LQF	Old slanted seats
OH-LQG 	Old slanted seats

Airbus A330

RegNo	Full flat since
------	------------
OH-LTM	2014-11-09
OH-LTN	2014-12-05
OH-LTO	2014-02-27
OH-LTP	2014-03-11
OH-LTR	2009-12-17
OH-LTS	2010-02-11
OH-LTT	2010-04-21
OH-LTU	2010-11-26
Print Wikipost

Reports on Hard product upgrades

Old Feb 26, 2014, 8:25 am
  #16  
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Originally Posted by aster
Just curious but which are the best seats for a single traveller? Even numbered rows on the left or any seat on the right?
2A / 2L are my favourites..service starts from the front and the 1L bulkhead is not really that great, quite exposed seat to my taste.
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Old Feb 26, 2014, 10:48 pm
  #17  
 
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Today OH-LTO with new Business Class to JFK.
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Old Feb 27, 2014, 2:07 am
  #18  
 
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Schedules are too tight, now AY5/6 is "old" C with 7 rows.
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Old Mar 1, 2014, 8:41 am
  #19  
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Have added a wikipost to keep track of exact status of the retrofit.

Does anyone know if they are fitting the Vantage II seats ? The original Zodiac Vantage seat, which some of the 330's are fitted with seems to have gone obsolete and replaced with Vantage II.
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Old Mar 1, 2014, 10:46 am
  #20  
 
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from flightradar24

From flightradar24
http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/oh-lto



Made in Germany
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Old Mar 1, 2014, 11:38 am
  #21  
 
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Do the new seats have the grey colour scheme or the previous blueish scheme. Will the older lie-flat seats be upgraded with the grey scheme?
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Old Mar 1, 2014, 12:38 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by intuition
Maybe we should start monitoring indications of the "new" J seats being installed? I just got changed seats maps on flights.

I am now getting "new" J seat config for plane type "A340-300"



I also had a A330-booking turn into "new" config today, but that could be equipment swap.
I am seeing this seat map for a booking Singapore - Helsinki 08 April 2014 AY082. The seat selection page shows Aircraft Type: A340-300, but with three rows in the mini cabin, surely this is OH-LTR and not a refurbished A340?
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Old Mar 1, 2014, 1:00 pm
  #23  
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It is a refurbished A340.
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Old Mar 1, 2014, 1:23 pm
  #24  
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So far, AY has gone for 10 rows of business on the retrofits, and not the 7 row config that LTS, LTU and LTT has. Not sure all retrofits will get this config, but LTO got it, and at least two of the A340s are looking at getting it.
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Old Mar 2, 2014, 5:18 am
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by intuition
So far, AY has gone for 10 rows of business on the retrofits, and not the 7 row config that LTS, LTU and LTT has. Not sure all retrofits will get this config, but LTO got it, and at least two of the A340s are looking at getting it.
Markku Remes, Manager for VIP and Lounge Services @Finnair tweets in Finnish that every refitted new look business cabin will have 45 seats, so 10 rows
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Old Mar 2, 2014, 5:34 am
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Lappe
Markku Remes, Manager for VIP and Lounge Services @Finnair tweets in Finnish that every refitted new look business cabin will have 45 seats, so 10 rows
Very good news indeed!
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Old Mar 2, 2014, 6:10 am
  #27  
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Very good news, but quite interesting as they are on some routes struggling to fill J. Minicabin will stay the "economy-extra-for-free" for many years to come!

It means there will be 3 (or 4 depending on how you see things) longhaul configs for a while
A340 with 42 J
A340 with 45 J

A330 with 32 J
A330 with 45 J

and I guess upgrades for points/vouchers will continue "live life on the edge" and risk it all in last minute equipment change. I'd hate to be around when they swap in a A330 /32 and need to look for up to 13 J pax to bump.
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Old Mar 2, 2014, 12:12 pm
  #28  
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Originally Posted by intuition
I'd hate to be around when they swap in a A330 /32 and need to look for up to 13 J pax to bump.
That is true but my wild guess is that in full 45 seat J cabin there are easily 5-10 upgrades, maybe even more..so status pax with paid J ticket should be relatively safe in most cases.

Bumping voucher/points upgraded pax is really easy, just credit the points and down the aisle they go!
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Old Mar 2, 2014, 1:24 pm
  #29  
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Originally Posted by NoWindowSeat
...
Bumping voucher/points upgraded pax is really easy, just credit the points and down the aisle they go!
.. or out the door they walk

The confirmed upgrades are the major perk on AY+, mess with that often enough and I can't see the point of re-qualifying.
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Old Mar 2, 2014, 1:57 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by intuition
.. or out the door they walk

The confirmed upgrades are the major perk on AY+, mess with that often enough and I can't see the point of re-qualifying.
That is the risk they have to take but I'd imagine that such cases are in reality very, very rare...as when, let's say a 45J A340 goes technical, they usually have nothing available as a substitute so it's either badly delayed, or cancelled.
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