Flying Gluten Free on Finnair with Celiac (Economy Class)
Helsinki makes GF feel like easy mode, well, at least easier. But heading to the airport, one just never knows and yet, I figured Finnair would get it right given the prevalence of Celiac across Finland. Fast forward to the important part and yup. I mean it was still economy plane food but it was probably the best GF plane food I’ve had in economy so far (I grant, that’s a low bar) and certainly the most actual meal experience. So let’s jump in to the good, the meh, and the CC risk, shall we?
This flight was part of a longer trip back from Helsinki to Portland and booked using airline miles via Alaska Airlines. At 17,500 points and $60ish in taxes/fees, it saved me some cash even if it was just a simple economy seat waaaaay in the back.
Finnair gluten free overview: 9/10
Ordering a gluten free meal on Finnair
I booked my flight with Alaska Airlines and shot Finnair an email to confirm my meal. In general, this seems like something you can do online ahead of time, but I didn’t see the option when I first went looking as can be the case booking a ticket through another airline. Once confirmed, the special meal selection showed up in the Finnair app and site, making me 97% confident it would be there for my flight. And it was.
What Finnair served on the plane
Our plane was shockingly empty (ok, maybe not a shock currently) but it did mean I had the chance to snag a full row to myself and confuse the heck out of the flight attendants. After confirming I was me and that I did indeed want a GF meal, everything came out exactly as expected.
The first meal was served about an hour and a half in featuring GFML/NLML (lactose free) meatballs with coleslaw (not my fav), a roll (always appreciated), and a cake (absolutely my favorite). Now I had just had an absolutely amazing meatball dish in the airport a couple hours before as shared below so the taste test was basically doomed from the start but even still, it was decent.
Not something I’d buy in a restaurant but something I’d gladly eat again. The roll was typical dry GF bread and the cake pretty solid. All said, a nice enough meal and leaps and bounds ahead of the fruit cups and free-from-fun food I had on the way over with KLM. Everything came labeled, covered, and the baked items were fully wrapped giving me little doubt this was all CC-safe level eats.
As has usually been the case, the second meal was a much simpler dish but I would argue much better and certainly better than the photos suggest. This time it was a decent sized chicken breast well seasoned and properly warmed up with a side of quinoa and two lonely looking broccoli. Flavor was impressively good and getting solid protein and some fiber was certainly welcome. Once again, the package (just a box) was clearly labeled and looked to have been prepped sealed.
That was about it beyond drinks. No snacks were offered up but as I had brought plenty of bars, chips, and had the last few pieces of dried fruit to polish off before customs, it was hardly an issue.
Airport food options
Helsinki (HEL) airport GF eats
If Finland isn’t on your radar, it should be both for the sights and the “OMG, there is food all over!” vibe (Celiac is quite common there). But of course, even great GF cities can have terrible airport experiences and so I was stoked to discover Helsinki Airport had plenty of options.
Since I had no idea what I would get on the flight, I elected to splurge a bit and had an early lunch at Nordic Kitchen. A counter service but sit down spot with multiple locations around the airport. Their menu was marked with many GF options and looked like a good spot for one last serving of meatballs. The dish that came out was absolutely amazing for an airport, GF or not. Even now knowing that the plane was also going to serve (far less impressive) meatballs, I’d still pick them again. I also snagged a mini cinnamon roll (GF of course) which was fine, but obviously no match for a fresh one from a proper GF bakery.
Beyond that spot, it looked like Burger King was offering GF burgers and there is a great grocery store before security (yes, in the airport) full of fresh and prepared food. Obviously you can’t bring everything through security but certainly a good option to grab some last minute snacks or pull together a simple meal.
Miami (MIA) airport GF eats
There’s not much I would trust in the way of hot food anywhere in Miami airport. I dug into my Helsinki snacks and supplemented with a bag of certified chips when our flight got delayed, but mostly, I was just ready to be home. If you’re really hungry, Chick-fil-A may be worth a shot as they’re reported to have a dedicated fryer.
My take on flying Finnair while gluten free
Simply put, Finnair did a superb job at delivering safe, sufficient, and fairly tasty meals and I’d love to see what things are like in a fancier cabin. Sure, it was still economy food and it does stink to have no choice in what sort of meal you get but that’s still a lot better than getting nothing or than getting yet another free-from-everything meal as is the norm for gluten free flying.
And as always, bring plenty of snacks too. You never know when a meal gets missed, mixed up, or you get stuck in an airport for unexpected hours.
