AY1338
LHR-HEL
May 2025

Service commenced with a hot towel after takeoff and a drinks service from the trolley, accompanied by packaged pretzels. I found the pretzels to be pretty bland and low quality. Finnair ceased offering champagne on short haul routes in 2023, but the beautiful and timeless Iittala glasses distracted me from noticing this.



Dinner service followed, also from the trolley, with further drinks following straight after. As is standard on Finnair short haul routes, there was no choice; the cold beef starter was decent, which was sadly more than could be said for the chicken main course which was tough and accompanied by some nondescript mush. Only one knife and fork was provided for the starter and main course, and for the bread which was offered from a basket. The lack of suitable cutlery - or indeed a bread plate - on a full size tray is just lazy. Further bread and drinks were offered by the friendly and professional crew before the conclusion of the main course.



A somewhat stale warm pistachio bun was offered from a basket once dinner trays had been collected - this was served on a serviette, without cutlery. Quite a disappointing business class dessert. Hot drinks were offered at this time, and individually wrapped Karl Fazer chocolates from a tray were presented before landing.



AY1337
HEL-LHR
May 2025

Service commenced with a hot towel after takeoff and a drinks service from the trolley, accompanied by packaged pretzels. This time, I sampled Finnair's famous blueberry juice.



Dinner service followed from the trolley. That evening's choice was a cold trout starter (very good), with a respectable but ultimately uninteresting vegetarian ravioli for the main course, accompanied by bread offered from a basket. Further bread and drinks were offered by the again friendly and professional crew before the conclusion of the main course.



A warm vanilla bun was offered from a basket once dinner trays had been collected - much fresher than the outbound pistachio affair. Hot drinks were offered at this time, and individually wrapped Karl Fazer chocolates from a tray were presented once again before landing.



Finnair's short haul Business Class main courses and desserts are unquestionably weak, but the service still has vestiges of potential in the form of hot towels, Iittala glassware, the continued use of full size trays (even if there's not enough cutlery and no bread plate), decent quality starters, and pre-landing chocolates.