Finnair unveiling huge new Schengen Lounge with expanded capacity and space for Oneworld elites

27.06.2024 - 14:29 / thepointsguy.com

Finnair is showing off its new Schengen Lounge at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL) that's slated to open on July 9. The lounge will primarily serve customers traveling on short-haul flights within Europe and passengers connecting in Helsinki from the U.S. and traveling onward to Finland's Lapland and the wider Nordic and Baltic regions.

The new lounge will accommodate up to 440 passengers, an upgrade from the existing Schengen-area lounge.

The Finnish airline says the lounge was inspired by Finnair's Nordic design and is "designed to bring unparalleled comfort and convenience to customers."

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The carrier, based near Helsinki, wouldn't share all the details of the new lounge — though it did offer a few photos and a promise that more would be revealed shortly.

The design was led by Studio Joanna Laajisto and features Nordic design, which includes wooden textures, soft forms and warm colors. The furniture is sourced from Nordic designers like Artek, Nikari and Gubi.

The lounge will feature two areas. The larger part will be for business-class passengers and those with Oneworld Sapphire status (American Airlines Platinum-level status). The second area will be the Platinum Corner for Finnair's top-tier status holders and Oneworld Emerald members (Platinum Pro- and Executive Platinum-level status with American Airlines). Finnair Plus Platinum and Platinum Lumo members are also eligible.

Finnair will also sell access to the Platinum Corner for 30 euros ($32) or 4,800 Avios.

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The new lounge is named for Europe's Schengen Area, which includes most European Union countries, with the exception of Cyprus and Ireland. Non-EU countries — including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein — are also part of the Schengen Area. That means flights to these countries will not need border checks.

The new Schengen Lounge will look familiar to people who've used Finnair's other lounges at Helsinki Airport.

Customers flying directly to and from the U.S. can continue to access Finnair's Platinum Wing Lounge (for top-tier elites) or its Business Lounge (both in the non-Schengen area), first unveiled in 2019.

Finnair will have a total of three lounges at Helsinki Airport:

Finnair also announced it completed the refurbishment of its entire long-haul fleet.

That includes an entirely new business-class section with new seats, a new premium economy cabin and a refreshed economy cabin. Finnair was the launch customer for the new AirLounge seat designed by seat manufacturer Collins Aerospace.

Related: Finnair launches new business class seat and