Finland’s national airline, Finnair, has been flying between the United States and Europe for over 5 decades. They are filling a crucial gap between the two countries. Typical American air carriers choose to serve larger European cities like London or Paris, only. Leaving folks looking to fly nonstop to Finland without options.
Finnair offers nonstop flights from many U.S cities to Helsinki. This service is very well regarded as they use a modern widebody fleet with recently updated amenities.
In this article, we will discuss Finnair’s U.S – Helsinki route pairings. We’ll provide insight into the cities they fly from and the experience passengers can expect flying on this airline.
Who is Finnair exactly?
Finnair is the national flag carrier airline for Finland. That means they are responsible for a large majority of the international travel out of Finland. Founded in 1923, they are one of the oldest airlines in the world still in operation. The airline currently flies Finns to over 80 destinations in 35 countries around the world. Finnair uses Helsinki Airport as their primary hub airport.
Finland is a country that does not have much service from the United States. When looking at all the airlines that fly to Helsinki, there are no American air carriers offering nonstop flights to the airport. This is likely because Helsinki or Finland as a whole isn’t considered a primary destination city or country for American carriers.
U.S air carriers would rather focus on high trafficked destinations like London or Paris. Helsinki can be considered a very niche destination that has a much smaller demand than that of London or Paris.
But, for those passengers from the United States who are looking to fly to Finland nonstop, Finnair is a viable option for them as they do have flights between the U.S and Finland.
The U.S is also very important to Finnair. It falls under Finnair’s North American revenue, which represented 9% of all passenger revenue generated in 2024.
Where in The United States Does Finnair Have Flights to Finland?
Finnair has an extensive history of flying between the U.S and Finland. They started flights across the Atlantic in 1969 when the airline flew a route pairing between New York City and Helsinki.
During the late 2010s, they pulled back the majority of its service between Finland and the USA. Boston, Miami, San Francisco, and Seattle were all cities that once Finnair had routes to Finland from.
In 2025, the airline announced a greater commitment to the U.S market. They will be increasing the flight volume between Finland and the U.S by 46%. This bodes well for American travelers looking to fly to Finland. It also benefits Finns who are looking to come to vacation in the U.S.
See below for the six cities that currently offer Finnair routes to Finland from the United States.
Chicago
Finnair operates daily service to Helsinki from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The outbound flight to Helsinki is flight number 10. The Chicago bound flight from Helsinki is Finnair flight number 9. These nonstop flights are offered every day of the week.
The airline operates their Airbus A330 on this route. The route is over 4400 miles long and takes over 8 hours to complete. Which is perfect for the Airbus A330.
Finnair is the only airline offering a nonstop flight to Helsinki. Chicago O’Hare is the Midwest gate for international travel. Many of the Helsinki bound travelers from Chicago represent Midwesterners from states like Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and more.
Chicago O’Hare is also a major hub for American Airlines, who also participates in the OneWorld Alliance with Finnair. This means that passengers can use American Airlines to travel domestically in the United States to get to Chicago to fly with Finnair to Finland, in a smooth and hassle-free experience.
Dallas
Finnair’s only Southern departure city is Dallas. Via Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Finnair flies a once daily flight (sometimes twice daily) to Helsinki Airport. Finnair Flights 20 and 22 are the outbound flights to Helsinki from Dallas. While Finnair Flights 19 and 21 are inbound to Dallas from Finland.
This route is the start of Finnair’s longer routes it flies from the United States. For that reason, the Dallas- Helsinki route pairing is the first route that Finnair uses their Airbus A350 on. The distance between Dallas and Helsinki is over 5200 miles. This flight takes over 9 to 10 hours to complete. That is not a problem for the Airbus A350, whose range is nearly double that duration.
Dallas likely captures much of the demand for flights to Finland for the Southern United States. Dallas Fort Worth is another major hub for American Airlines, which Finnair benefits from domestic connections.
Los Angeles
The longest route in Finnair’s network between the United States and Finland, is the Los Angeles – Helsinki route pairing. From Los Angeles International Airport, once daily service to Helsinki is offered upwards to 5 times per week. Everyday except for Wednesday’s and Friday’s. Inbound flights to Helsinki are flown upwards to 4 times per week on alternating days.
The flight departing LAX is Finnair flight number 2. The Los Angeles bound flight from Helsinki is Finnair flight number 1. Finnair uses their Airbus A350 on this route pairing given the distance between the two cities.
Los Angeles and Helsinki are over 5600 miles apart. That means that flight times are between 10 to 11 hours depending on direction of flight.
Just like many U.S departure cities with Finnair service, they are hubs for American Airlines. Los Angeles is no exception. Yet, for this particular route much of the demand is either directly in the market.
Los Angeles is a large city so there is likely organic demand for travel to Finland. But also, Los Angeles connects the Southwestern part of the country. States like Nevada, Arizona, and Utah probably help funnel the demand for the Finnair flights to Helsinki.
New York
Amongst a given with most European airlines, Finnair does offer flights from New York City. From John F Kennedy International Airport, passengers will find once a day weekly to/from Helsinki. The outbound flight from New York City is Finnair flight 15 and the New York City bound flight number is 15.
Since this route pairing is the shortest in Finnair’s U.S network, the airline operates their Airbus A330 instead of the Airbus A350. The total distance between New York City and Helsinki is over 4100 miles. The flight duration is nearly 9 to 10 hours depending on direction of flight.
New York – JFK is another American Airlines hub following in the same pattern as other Finnair served airports in the states. JFK is also the only eastern coast airport with service to Finland.
The airport typically is a major international departure city for the United States. Finnair likely recognized the number of connecting flights with American Airlines on the east coast and were quite happy with only offering JFK as an east coast departure airport.
Seattle
The Pacific Northwest is served by Finnair at Seattle Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. Just like the service schedule in Los Angeles, flights are not flown every day to Helsinki. The Seattle – Helsinki route pairing flies once per day, 5 days per week. The Finland bound flight is Finnair flight 33. The Seattle bound flight is flight number 34.
Finnair’s route between Seattle and Finland is one of the longest routes being offered from the United States. The trip is 4794 miles and takes 8 to 9 hours to fly. But Finnair does not use their Airbus A350s on this route. They opt to operate the Airbus A330 on the route pairing.
SeaTac is the only airport that isn’t a hub for American Airlines. But, it is a hub for Alaska Airlines who is also part of OneWorld with Finnair. Since Alaska Airlines has a prominent West Coast presence, passengers can still easily connect to Seattle and then board Finnair flights to Helsinki.
What To Expect Flying With Finnair?
When flying with Finnair from the United States to Finland, you will be on the Airbus A330 or the Airbus A350. Both of these airplanes are designed for transatlantic travel. They’re widebody planes, meaning they have two sets of aisles going down the rows of seats in the cabin.
To understand what to really expect while using Finnair, we’ll need to dive deeper into the cabin configurations and inflight services.
Cabin Configurations
Finnair names their cabins on their widebody planes “Long-Haul Cabins”. These cabins have recently been modernized. Every thought put into the cabin experience was with the customer comfort in mind as well as the environmental impact.
The airline has three cabin configurations on both the Airbus A330 and Airbus A350. There is an economy class, premium economy class, and a business class.
Economy Class
Finnair dedicates upwards to 217 seats on their Airbus A330 to the economy class. 262 economy class seats are provided on the Airbus A350.
On the Airbus A350, economy seats are configured in rows of 3 x 3 x 3 seats. This can be a challenge especially if you are flying with your family. That means you may run into the risk of having to sit next to a stranger if your travel party is greater than 4.
The seat dimensions are pretty standard to what you would get on any airline offering transatlantic flights. On the A350, you will get 31 inches of legroom and 18 inches of seat width.
Finnair’s Airbus A330 economy product is more of a standard economy class experience. Seats are set up in rows of 2 x 4 x 2. Much better for traveling with large groups as the middle aisle seats 4 across.
You actually get one more inch of legroom on the A330, coming in at 32 inches. The seat width is also 18 inches.
Premium Economy Class
Finnair also offers passengers a premium economy experience. On their Airbus A330, the airline devotes 40 seats to premium economy. The only difference on this aircraft compared to the normal economy experience is that you are afforded a few more inches of legroom. If you’re flying on a premium economy fare, you will get anywhere between 33 to 35 inches of legroom.
On the Airbus A350 there are slightly more premium economy seats available. There are 42 to 43 seats dedicated to premium economy on this aircraft. However, the seating dimensions are virtually the same as the Airbus A330 experience. When flying premium economy on the A350, you will get about 35 inches of legroom.
Business Class
The business class experience on Finnair aircraft is quite nice. On the Airbus A330, there are upwards to 45 business classes available for passengers, depending on the plane configuration. In the business, there are 45 lie flat seats that have a seat width of 21 inches.
Compared to the Airbus A350, there are upwards of 46 seats available on that plane. Depending on the plane configuration. You are afforded more legroom on the A350, which totals to almost 81 inches of space. The seats in business class on the A350 are also lie flat seats and have the same width as the ones found on the Airbus A330.
Finnair’ Inflight Services
The inflight services offered by Finnair are pretty standard for a transatlantic air carrier.
Inflight Entertainment
Finnair gives you plenty of ways to keep yourself entertained on transatlantic flights between the United States and Finland.
All widebody planes in the Finnair fleet come equipped with WIFI. This allows you the ability to surf the web while in the air. Economy class passengers can buy WIFI in one or three hour slots. Or they can buy WIFI for the entire duration of the flight. For business class passengers, WIFI is complementary.
The airline also utilizes an inflight entertainment system found on the seatback right in front of you. Passengers can peruse a library containing movies, TV shows, and games on demand. The entertainment system is quite large. It features 11 to 12 inch touch screens. There are also noise cancelling headphones made available for passengers to use.
Dining
Finnair’s long haul flights do include meal service for all passenger classes. Economy class receive at least one hot meal with a non-alcoholic beverage. The airline also provides a light meal, snack, or breakfast right before landing. This comes in clutch especially when you leave the states overnight and arrive in Finland in the early morning.
But be aware. Finnair cuts food waste by only carrying one food option for passengers in Economy. So please be sure to check with the airline to better understand your food options before you fly.
Business class passengers receive an upscaled meal service. They enjoy at least two meal services. Dinner time meals come with appetizers, three different meal options, and dessert. Beverage options are also wide open for you. The airline does recommend making your main course choice 24 hours before flying on their website. This is also related to their effort of minimizing food waste.
Our Thoughts On Finnair’ Service From The U.S to Finland
Finnair provides an excellent service for Americans looking to fly to Helsinki. With the fact being that no other major American airline flies from the United States to Finland, Finnair handles their own in this rather unique spot.
The airline is everything that Brussels Airlines should be for Belgium. The service that Finnair provides is top notch. They fly modern planes, with modern amenities available for passengers’ leisure.
They also provide service to many destinations all across the United States. Both the East Coast as well as the West Coast are well represented with service to Finland.
Finnair truly has a stranglehold on the U.S to Finland route pairing and isn’t showing signs of letting go. With U.S air carriers and their preference of only flying to major cities throughout Europe like London and Paris, that trend doesn’t seem to change any time soon.
The only challenger that may look to fly to Finland is United. United Airlines as of late has been flying to unique destinations throughout Europe like Nuuk, Greenland. But this is only an option if the demand is there.
Finnair has nothing to worry about.
Sources
https://simpleflying.com/finnair-us-network-analysis
https://simpleflying.com/finnair-summer-2025-frequency-increases-us
https://investors.finnair.com/en/finnair-as-an-investment/business-model
