Finnair has announced that its first refurbished Embraer cabin has been completed as its regional E190 fleet gets a revamp. Featuring a dark blue and grey color scheme, the 100-seater jets will offer two seat types amid other cabin upgrades.
First refurbished Finnair E190 is ready
According to a release from the Finnish carrier, it will be renewing the cabins of seven Embraer E190 aircraft this winter season, with the remaining jets to be completed the winter after. Should all proceed as scheduled, all 12 of the airline’s E190 aircraft will be flying with their new cabins by the spring of 2026.
Photo: Finnair
The number of seats available on the aircraft will remain at 100, but rows 1-9 will feature an all-new business class seat offering reclining and enhanced cushioning, while seats in rows 10-25 will be refreshed economy seats. Cabins have also been fitted with LED lighting to improve the overall onboard experience, thematically aligning with the airline’s recently refurbished widebodies and expanded Schengen lounge at Helsinki Airport.
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The lounge will accommodate 440 people in the airport’s Schengen departures area, including passengers with oneworld Emerald frequent flyer status.
Eerika Enne, Head of Inflight Customer Experience, commented,
“We wanted to create a harmonious, fresh and inviting travel environment for our customers, with dark blue and grey colours and a hint of wooden laminate – elements familiar from our long-haul aircraft.”
The first airframe to be transformed is OH-LKH, which returned to service on October 28th with a flight from Helsinki (HEL) to Ivalo (IVL). The 17-year-old airframe was delivered to Finnair in June 2007 – according to data from ch-aviation, the plane has logged over 35,000 flight hours and 24,000 flight cycles during its time with Finnair.
Photo: Finnair
The airline’s E190s serve a range of domestic and European routes, primarily shorter flights around Northern and Central Europe. Passengers flying on these routes can soon expect “the same elements and atmosphere” seen onboard the carrier’s newly-revamped widebody aircraft, which have already earned rave reviews in a short period of time.
In June, Finnair completed a major €200 million ($217 million) refurbishment program of its entire long-haul fleet, consisting of the Airbus A330-300 and Airbus A350-900 – among the highlights of these new cabins include its premium economy cabin and the award-winning AirLounge business-class seat.
Shedding weight and emissions
The new seats and cabin carpet have been built with lighter materials, allowing Finnair to cut approximately 150kg from each aircraft, ultimately translating to lower operating costs and reduced emissions. As explained by Enne,
“Both the Business Class seat and the Economy Class seat are lighter than the previous Embraer cabin seats, and also the cabin carpet is made of a lighter material than before.”
Photo Karol Ciesluk | Shutterstock
Finnair has recovered well since the COVID pandemic and ended 2023 by posting a record annual profit – every quarter of 2023 returned a net profit for the airline, which also saw its optimal routing for Far East flights remain blocked off with the closure of Russian airspace. The Finnish carrier now has a fleet of almost 80 aircraft, including the Airbus A320-family, A330ceo and A350-900, as well as 12 ATR 72s and its 12 Embraer E190s.
