Mar 1, 2014, 8:31 am
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:
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)
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
Reports on Hard product upgrades
Mar 16, 2014, 3:23 am
#61
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Mar 16, 2014, 4:33 am
#62
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The earlier AY tracking, until 2012, included short haul, too. But then many AY flights became Flybe, at a time when a useful data source (a nearby ACARS server) became unavailable. With no movements in the J seats front, discontinuation of all AY tracking seemed reasonable.
BTW, I quite like the by-flight-number pages that are sometimes practical in showing which weekdays have been most likely to have the good J seats. For example ftdashboard.net/ay/flight/ay79.htm (just click on any flight number on this overview page )
Mar 16, 2014, 8:47 am
#63
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Correct, the tracking indeed got more interesting now that more birds are at last getting the new J.
The earlier AY tracking, until 2012, included short haul, too. But then many AY flights became Flybe, at a time when a useful data source (a nearby ACARS server) became unavailable. With no movements in the J seats front, discontinuation of all AY tracking seemed reasonable.
BTW, I quite like the by-flight-number pages that are sometimes practical in showing which weekdays have been most likely to have the good J seats. For example ftdashboard.net/ay/flight/ay79.htm (just click on any flight number on this overview page )
The earlier AY tracking, until 2012, included short haul, too. But then many AY flights became Flybe, at a time when a useful data source (a nearby ACARS server) became unavailable. With no movements in the J seats front, discontinuation of all AY tracking seemed reasonable.
BTW, I quite like the by-flight-number pages that are sometimes practical in showing which weekdays have been most likely to have the good J seats. For example ftdashboard.net/ay/flight/ay79.htm (just click on any flight number on this overview page )
Mar 16, 2014, 10:03 am
#64
Join Date: May 2010
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Posts: 163
Just curious to better understand what you're saying. Anytime I've had any reason to track any flight, I simply use the following web site (ex shown is from Helsinki to Oulu): http://flightaware.com/live/findflig...stination=EFOU
Ftdashboard should let you see "the wood from the trees": patterns and trends in how individual aircraft have been used. AY does not quite have the complexity of BA's LHR-JFK route that illustrates the wood quite well.
If you are planning a trip to Seoul, the ICN route page is somewhat unclear about the risk of old J seats. The AY41 flight page, however, suggests quickly that Sundays are less likely for new J than other days.
Who knows a reliable, comprehensive, free or inexpensive flight data source that includes a history of tailfins, actual arr/dep times and cancellations?
Mar 19, 2014, 12:59 pm
#65
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Mar 20, 2014, 10:53 am
#66
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https://flightaware.com/live/flight/FIN6 might that be helpful, 4 month data with registration.
Mar 20, 2014, 1:09 pm
#67
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They do have it, but not freely accessible as raw data (ie over a machine interface). Maybe one could craft a script to grab that data ..
Mar 23, 2014, 6:38 pm
#68
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PEK from 20 April?
ExpertFlyer shows the seat map on AY51 to be the new J seat from 2014-04-20. Since I'm looking at flying that on 2014-04-24 (first time on Finnair), that sounds good to me.
Anyone know how reliable this is, do AY change their aircraft at the last moment (like CX, grrrr...) or do they stick to the published type if nothing goes tech?
Anyone know how reliable this is, do AY change their aircraft at the last moment (like CX, grrrr...) or do they stick to the published type if nothing goes tech?
Mar 24, 2014, 1:18 am
#69
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AY shuffles birds more than CX... (but it is all tech reasons - the small fleet makes any tech issue have a ripple effect)
But since PEK is on the priority-list of "new" J, I'd say you stand a pretty decent chance of keeping the type.
But since PEK is on the priority-list of "new" J, I'd say you stand a pretty decent chance of keeping the type.
Last edited by intuition; Mar 24, 2014 at 1:33 am Reason: clarifying
Mar 24, 2014, 6:20 am
#70
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Anyone seen LQB lately? It hasn't returned to HEL yet. It seems refurbish the A340s take a bit longer than doing the A330s.
And do these planes perform the normal DUS-HEL flight (AY2704 / AY2708) on the return? If that is the case, I guess they need to move staff to DUS too, Flybe staff can't fly the widebodies AFAIK.
And do these planes perform the normal DUS-HEL flight (AY2704 / AY2708) on the return? If that is the case, I guess they need to move staff to DUS too, Flybe staff can't fly the widebodies AFAIK.
Mar 24, 2014, 9:51 am
#71
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Mar 25, 2014, 5:29 am
#72
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Mar 29, 2014, 2:46 pm
#75
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