Transforming Finnair’s lounge experience
Popular Nordic airline, Finnair, approached us with a view to completely revamping their ground-to-air customer experience. A large part of this project involved turning their Non-Schengen customer lounge into a contemporary experience that made travelling just as enjoyable as the destination.
Services
- Vision setting
- Interior design & space planning
- Brand experience
- Colour, material & finish
Learning
The project started with us immersing ourselves in Finnish culture, lapping up all that Finland had to offer. We scoured the streets of Helsinki and the heritage of Nordic design for inspiration. We consulted Finnish people to understand what really mattered to them and assessed the qualities and constraints of the site to identify opportunities. Melding all that we had learnt, a vision for the customer experience began to form.
We evolved the vision with Finnair in a snow covered lodge on the edge of Lapland. On returning to Helsinki, we hosted an event with Finnair Platinum customers to gather feedback and let them have a say in the direction we took.
Leaping
Our immersion culminated in a vision we called “Nordic Freedom”; incorporating a modern Nordic look and approach to space that gave customers the choice of how to use their time in the lounge. We turned the constraints of the site into opportunities to craft a distinctive environment for the passengers and to reduce operational costs for the Finnair.
Landing
Nordic Freedom was brought to life with a lounge that’s divided into different pockets, each aligned to customer needs and activities, while maintaining the spirit of Finland throughout. The simple, clean, minimalist approach to design is pure-Nordic, and the mixed textures and natural materials give a homely, warming feel. Bars, catering, and even an authentic Finnish sauna ensured travellers could embrace all that Finland has to offer.
Tangerine’s approach to the design and layout really allowed us to get the most out of the space available and aligned well to our future lounge proposition in serving our most frequent flyers and also to attract new ones. Many of the big ideas Tangerine brought to the table were embodied to the lounge and the feedback from our customer has been overwhelmingly positive.
David Kondo, Head of Customer Experience Product Design at Finnair
