Not sure if that was in reference to me talking, but I do not mean to rave about CA product per se. I agree, the CA product is behind AY and thus needs to be discounted to be of interest. But what I did try to say about CA, in relation to AY and the Asian strategy, based on flying ex-CPH to mainly CAN and HKG is:



* The CA fares should be compared to AY regular ≈2750€ fare, ie almost twice the CA fare ≈1500€. The CA product is in no way just half as good as AY, so the Quality/€ ratio is higher for CA.

* I do earn 125% of miles on R fare to my *A program. Which is exactly how any non-AY OW flight would earn to AY+. (Do note that a international business fare on CA with a domestic Chinese leg books into F on domestic with better earnings. OTOH, R fare only earns 125% to PhoenixMiles so that is worse than AY+)

* As a Westerner I too react at the non-stellar service, et.c. but I've travelled with Chinese pax who said "This is superior, you just don't get this kind of service on Finnair". I assume language and culturally based expectations makes all the difference. This has bearing especially on the Asian strategy, in the part where AY wants to attract Chinese passengers

* Flight time CPH-PEK-CAN is 14:40 on CA while CPH-HEL-CAN is 12:15 on AY, of which 1:10 is due to longer layover (HEL 1:10 layover, PEK 2:20 layover). So yes, it is a longer travel time, but not markedly so. I am sure there are worse connections for some domestic destinations, but a 2:20 layover is not a very long one and unlikely to affect choices. And hey, Finnair doesn't even serve more than a handfull destinations - even a long layover is better than a non-existing connection.



So for me as a westerner, CA is fit for purpose with at quality/€ that beats AY. Albeit a small sample, it seems that Chinese travellers would prefer CA over AY even without the price difference.

One part of Finnair strategy in China is to establish a route early and commit to it, in order to gain local appreciation of Finnair believing in the city, and later on harvest on that feel. That reasoning is not wrong in itself, but it seems they are being out-paced by domestic airlines.