Flight test: Finnair business class

Route Singapore to Helsinki.

Aircraft Airbus A340.

Class Business, 1L, a window seat.

Flight time 11hr, 30 min. Finns are punctual: gate push-off is at 11.26pm, wheels touch down at Helsinki at 6.01am.

Seat width and pitch Seats are 20.5 inches wide with a 63-inch pitch on a 2-2-2 configuration; each reclining 169 degrees to a sloped bed. In economy the 2-4-2 layout has enough empty seats to allow most passengers to lay across the centre row. Wonderfully democratic.

Flight frequency Finnair flies daily from Singapore to Helsinki on a Qantas code-share service that connects with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The deal-maker is its combination-class fare: an economy seat on the short leg to/from Asia, with a business-class seat on the long, overnight haul to Helsinki. It costs $5040 return including tax and it makes for a well-rested European arrival, with links to destinations such as Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague.

Comfort If national airlines embody national character then the Finns are a parsimonious lot. Quantifying pleasure is fraught but having flown business on Singapore Airlines and Qantas (both upstairs on an A380) this feels a second rung on the luxury ladder. Mind you, I've also flown first class on British Airways and on many scales here's a better service — and a significantly cheaper way to ensure recumbent overnight sleep. Don't expect Moet before buckle-up but it's champagne nevertheless — and who needs upholstered toilet lids and braised duck after midnight at 10,000 metres?

Luggage Two 23-kilogram checked-bags on business (one in economy), plus two cabin pieces to a combined 10 kilograms.

Service Formal rather than warm but in five languages and perfectly adequate (although I'm still waiting on a request for a tissue). Uniforms are smart and pre-dinner hand towels come pleasingly hot.