Qantas boosts international capacity, wet lease Finnair aircraft

Shrek flew to SIN on the AY bird earlier this week.
It’s an odd mix. The mattress pad is QF from the Business suites. It doesn’t fit the AY bed. Pillows are also QF, so no bigger memory foam ones like they have on AY.
QF menu and amenity kit.

He thought the crew were excellent!!
 
It’s an odd mix. The mattress pad is QF from the Business suites. It doesn’t fit the AY bed. Pillows are also QF, so no bigger memory foam ones like they have on AY.
Oh QF pillows... that doesn't sound good. I feel like you really need the 2x large pillows to use the AirLounge product comfortably.
 
What am I missing? The AY pillows when i flew them in August were not particularly large (and not memory foam) and the AY mattress toper doesn't attach (it needs velco or something to keep it in place), but yes the QF topper wouldn't work because of the weird angles and no ability to hook it over the top of the seat given the design.

AY pillows:
1698970618440.png

IME I found BA has the largest (proper bed sized) pillows in J much bigger see below

1698970735295.png
 
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What am I missing? The AY pillows when i flew them in August were not particularly large (and not memory foam) and the AY mattress toper doesn't attach (it needs velco or something to keep it in place), but yes the QF topper wouldn't work because of the weird angles and no ability to hook it over the top of the seat given the design.

AY pillows:
View attachment 352493

IME I found BA has the largest (proper bed sized) pillows in J much bigger see below

View attachment 352494
Just a shame BA don’t use mattress toppers
 
Huh? Definitely a cover for the seat included with the duvet when Ive flown them in J

Cover perhaps if you're being generous, mattress no. It doesn't even attach to the seat like the QF ones do.

I think the BA bedding is rubbish. The pillow is the only thing going for it.
 
On the BA dreamliner with the 1 2 1 layout it attaches to seat exactly as per QF, cant recall on the older backward facing ones , noting the AY mattress topper has virtually no padding and does not stay in place at all.

I just know I slept better in J on QF, BA and AA than on the new AY seat. But ymmv.
 
Flew SIN-SYD on QF292 earlier this week. Being based in Finland I'm very familiar with Finnair. Such an odd experience being on a Finnair plane and landing in Sydney. Pity the pilot only spoke in English with a Finnish accent. I would have liked to hear his announcements in Finnish as well!

I was in economy this time so here's how it was for me (I had just transferred from QF2 A380 from LHR):

Pluses: The combination of Qantas content on the Finnair base for the IFE works really well - and the screen is nice and sharp and responds well to your touch.
Singapore based Finnair crew were very good. There was also at least one flight attendant from Qantas. Should have taken a photo of the tea/coffee service with a Finnair uniformed crew member at one end and a Qantas uniform at the other!
Plane is recently refurbished and spotlessly clean. The Finnair blue/white colour scheme with red Qantas blankets reminded me of Aeroflot - red white and blue interior! Big white Qantas pillows too, better than the small ones Finnair usually have.
Some of the Finnair Y seats are so called comfort seats which have extra legroom. On this aircraft they are the first 6 rows in the centre.

Minuses: The seat cushion is too short, no under-thigh support. It does make it easier to get in and out and gives the illusion of better legroom, but is uncomfortable for longer flights.
Meal service times were wrong. Dinner served two hours out of Singapore, and then breakfast which was just a pastry thing in a cardboard box was served just as we crossed into the Northern Territory, 4:30 am Sydney time with 2.5 hours flight time to go. Didn't appreciate the wake up and all the lights being turned fully on at this time. Normally Qantas serves breakfast 1 hour before Sydney on the QF2 and QF82 services.
 
Flew SIN-SYD on QF292 earlier this week. Being based in Finland I'm very familiar with Finnair. Such an odd experience being on a Finnair plane and landing in Sydney. Pity the pilot only spoke in English with a Finnish accent. I would have liked to hear his announcements in Finnish as well!

I was in economy this time so here's how it was for me (I had just transferred from QF2 A380 from LHR):

Pluses: The combination of Qantas content on the Finnair base for the IFE works really well - and the screen is nice and sharp and responds well to your touch.
Singapore based Finnair crew were very good. There was also at least one flight attendant from Qantas. Should have taken a photo of the tea/coffee service with a Finnair uniformed crew member at one end and a Qantas uniform at the other!
Plane is recently refurbished and spotlessly clean. The Finnair blue/white colour scheme with red Qantas blankets reminded me of Aeroflot - red white and blue interior! Big white Qantas pillows too, better than the small ones Finnair usually have.
Some of the Finnair Y seats are so called comfort seats which have extra legroom. On this aircraft they are the first 6 rows in the centre.

Minuses: The seat cushion is too short, no under-thigh support. It does make it easier to get in and out and gives the illusion of better legroom, but is uncomfortable for longer flights.
Meal service times were wrong. Dinner served two hours out of Singapore, and then breakfast which was just a pastry thing in a cardboard box was served just as we crossed into the Northern Territory, 4:30 am Sydney time with 2.5 hours flight time to go. Didn't appreciate the wake up and all the lights being turned fully on at this time. Normally Qantas serves breakfast 1 hour before Sydney on the QF2 and QF82 services.
And that pastry "thing" is probably the worst I've ever tasted. Not worth waking up for. I thought the service after departure was a bit slow (wanted a drink) so went in search. Apart from that it was a good AY service with QF food.
 
Does anyone know if these seats can be selected or assigned?
I had no issues selecting recently but in the end got upgraded to PE so can’t report back on how much roomier they are.

PE cabin is very small, quiet and generally pleasant. I didn’t eat as I’d managed six courses in the Flounge before hand so can’t vouch for the food but the crew seemed friendly.
 
I had no issues selecting recently but in the end got upgraded to PE so can’t report back on how much roomier they are.

PE cabin is very small, quiet and generally pleasant. I didn’t eat as I’d managed six courses in the Flounge before hand so can’t vouch for the food but the crew seemed friendly.
I'll have to try closer to departure, those rows were blocked out for me as a gold.
 
I'll have to try closer to departure, those rows were blocked out for me as a gold.
Look on EF to see if they’re taken or just blocked. They might open at T-80.
Shrek flew to SIN on the AY bird earlier this week.
It’s an odd mix. The mattress pad is QF from the Business suites. It doesn’t fit the AY bed. Pillows are also QF, so no bigger memory foam ones like they have on AY.
QF menu and amenity kit.
Flew SIN-SYD QF292 last week. I was expecting the seat to be like oysters - either love it or hate it but I’m probably somewhere in between. I like the seat and was comfy watching some tv and eating. Sleeping mode was generally ok but as others have pointed out, the main fail is that second seatbelt. Just uncomfortable. I used the main belt to avoid ending up in the o/h locker (in the unlikely event of severe turbulence). The QF mattress topper was fine if you just lie it flat on the horizontal surface.

Edit: For “window seat” lovers, 3A (and I assume 3K) was well aligned two 2 windows plus clear view out of 2A‘s rear window. 1A and 2A are misaligned to really only have 1 useful window (more or less). Rows 4 onwards appear to be better aligned from what I could tell.
He thought the crew were excellent!!
The crew were friendly but made themselves scare pretty quickly. The F&B service was rushed (as is not uncommon on the later flight back to Oz) but I never saw a wine bottle, serves and refills just came in a glass.

No desert service unless you asked for it (they weren’t prompting us).

Breakfast was shown on the menu as 1 1/2 hrs before landing (1 hr express) but lights were on 2 hrs out (again, not that uncommon). At least we were landing 7am ish and not 6am.

TBH, a far cry from the service up to SIN on QF1 a few weeks earlier.
 
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Does anyone know if these seats can be selected or assigned?
Yes, you can. I had luck in earlier years as a QF Gold on AY flights but perhaps they've "enhanced" the offering recently (an OWE / QF Plat can select).

Look for the green coloured Y seats on this map: Finnair A330-300 (28J) - aeroLOPA | Detailed aircraft seat plans.

Finnair does not mark Economy Comfort seats on their maps any more, however they've left the seat configuration as is for most parts (some reduction was done when rolling out the Premium Economy cabin). The AY seat map for the wet leased planes is here (A330 > 279 seats with J/W/Y): Finnair fleet.

The Y Comfort seats are the go-to seats for me. They are standard Y seats but have extra leg room and what's a winner for me in that cabin.
 
Flew this recently in J and have a few thoughts
  • Generally liked the seat. I think for daytime lounging, I prefer it over the QF seat. For sleeping, I'm still undecided. I think the footwell is a bit too tight. I assume it's a bit wider on the AY A350s though?
  • On the other hand, I do like that there's no mechanism around your head when you sleep, and therefore no gaps for things to fall into. Therefore I can wear wireless earbuds (e.g. airpods) whilst sleeping without fear of them falling into the seat mechanism.
  • The wireless charger really should be a full rubber surface
  • The CM was great, but the rest of the crew, whilst they tried their best, were obviously very new. Some weren't super fluent with english and struggled a bit with understand others accents.
  • Love that the rear J bathroom has a window
  • Pillows provided are 1x QF J pillow and 1x QF Y pillow. Wish it was 2x J pillows.
  • Why can't they just provide the correct mattress pad for the seat?
  • The CM went around to greet WPs and I think there was only two in the whole cabin including myself. This is quite unusual compared to my past Qantas J experiences.
 

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