I am surprised to see Finnair quoted as going for the A340-300E model of the A340. The -300 version is effectively out of production, although there are a couple of doubtfuls still on the order book and Airbus has made no formal announcement. But are they going for secondhand aircraft ? A new -300 in 2007/8 is going to be pretty un-resellable and that is going to have to be reflected in the depreciation. And there are a good number of secondhand -300s available as well.

If they want new capacity before the A350 (which is still quite some years away) they will either have to go for the A340 or more secondhand MD-11s (that one is definitely out of production !). No real other option.

4 engines can be an advantage on routes like Tokyo, for although the A350 has all the technical ETOPS requirements, it still needs all the various ETOPS diversion points confirmed as available before it departs, and that can be an issue in the Russian winter. I really would have thought Finnair would have gone for the A340-600 model if anything, it's the right size to step up to from an MD-11 on the busiest routes, a current model, and has very substantial cargo capacity.

The increased design cruise speed for the A350 has been recently announced. It's not much though.

The Airbuses will need to be on dedicated routes during the transition as there will be separate crews with separate qualifications to fly the different types, and as all the long haul routes obviously require a crew change at the far end, you need to have a qualified crew already out there to bring the plane back. The A340 and A350, however, are "cross-qualified" between them so they could be mixed if desired.

Hopefully in addition to replacing the MD-11 and starting the new Asian routes, the A350s will replace the Finnair 757s used on charters to Thailand, Brasil, etc, which are really far too much for a 757. I pity their passengers.