Finnair's sells itself as the fast route to Asia, offering connections from across Europe to a wide range of Asian destinations through it's hub in Helsinki. Short connection times and a location on the shortest route between Europe and the Far East means that, even with a stop, Finnair's journey times are usually much shorter than those offered through hubs in the Middle East. Obviously, direct flights from London are quicker-still, but Finnair's business class fares are often comparable to premium economy fares on the non-stop flights and I think the improved comfort compensates for the extra few hours of travel.
Like most OneWorld carriers, Finnair use Terminal 3 at Heathrow - a facility which will never be great but does, at least, seem to be improving a little. There was no wait for business class check-in, and only a small line at FastTrack security. The main departure area in Terminal three always seems unbelievably busy, a situation which isn't helped by apparent the reluctance of some carriers to move, as hoped, to Terminal 4. The crowds make lounge access even more of a bonus. Finnair use Cathay Pacific's facility at Terminal 3 - there is little point saying much about the lounge as Cathay moved to a larger location with improved amenities a week or two after this flight. The food on offer, mid-morning, did seem woeful though.
The flight to Helsinki boarded on time, business class seating for the two and a half hour flight is the standard European offering of economy seating with the middle seat unoccupied. Once in the air, drinks were offered before the meal was served. In this case, some sort of mystery meat stew with berries, a smoked salmon salad and a summer pudding.
As this is Finnair, I assumed that the stew was of reindeer flesh. It actually tasted pretty good, even if it and the mashed-potato seemed very liquid.
Since I last flew Finnair, Helsinki Airport has opened up a new extension to handle long-haul and non-Schengen (e.g., London) flights. This includes a large new lounge for Finnair's business class passengers and, uniquely, a spa and sauna with runway views. The opening of the spa caused some consternation amongst Finnair frequent flyers as there's a fairly steep entry charge even if you have a long-haul business class ticket. I was, none the less, willing to cough-up and quite excited - it's not every day that you have the chance to watch aircraft take-off from within a sauna.
My excitement was soon extinguished by the receptionist who insisted that I didn't have enough time before my connection departed. I had ninety minutes and am not really sure that many people spend much longer than that waiting in Helsinki, so I'm at a loss to understand who has the opportunity to exploit this facility.
The lounge itself is impressive, with great views across the airport and some interesting, and comfortable, furniture choices.
There are some fantastic reclining chairs, with laptop power, overlooking the runway.
A reasonable selection of food is on offer, including salads, soups and cakes. All guests are able to help themselves to soft drinks, beer and, grim, wine from a tap, but there is an odd rule in place concerning spirits and mixed drinks, which are served from a bar. Passengers carrying a business class boarding card are charged for drinks from the bar, but anyone holding a OneWorld Sapphire card (e.g., BA Executive Club Silver) are entitled to as many free drinks as they please - Finnair are, in effect, taking better care of BA's passengers than they do of their own.
Finnair operates flights to Asia using Airbus A340s which are being supplemented with a growing fleet of A330s. The newest of the A330s offer a fully-flat product in business class, but the A340 that took us to Tokyo featured the older, angled, lie-flat product. The seat is perfectly comfortable to sleep in though, especially if only partially reclined; you don't then slide onto the floor in the night.
Champagne or juice were served after boarding, then another bar service commenced immediately after take-off with either strawberries or nuts on offer to accompany the drinks.
The main meal started with cream of reindeer soup, salmon and noodles, all of which was tasty and well presented.
From the choice of second course I selected a roast chicken breast with lemon risotto. It's all perfectly nice airline food, but not up to the standards offered by Qatar and others.
A wide selection of breads was offered with each course, including a delicious hot garlic bread.
After sending a week working in Japan, I flew back from Osaka. Kansai airport is something of a shock to anyone expecting Japan's famed efficiency - lines for security and passport control were long, slow and badly organised. The sense of chaos isn't helped by the cacophony of airline representatives anxiously walking up and down the lines screaming the names of passengers on flights that are closing.
Finnair use a third-party lounge in Osaka which was largely unremarkable, except for an example of the famed beer machines - there's a video below for the unfamiliar. These seem to be a standard feature in Japanese airports and are seldom found elsewhere. I can't imagine why, they're very practical.
The return flight was operated by an A330, but still featured the older seats. The meal service on the return was, if anything, slightly better than on the outbound. Initial service included the familiar salad, cheese and noodles, this time with cold chicken as a starter. The main was a fairly substantial steak which wasn't that badly cooked, considering the limitation of an aircraft kitchen.
Small tubs of Haagen-Dazs were served as a dessert.
It has to be said that service on both journey's was fantastic and attentive, but particularly good on this day flight from Osaka. Drinks were kept refreshed and staff frequently offered a range of snacks, including Japanese Cup Noodles and delicious onigri rice balls stuffed with salmon.
Before landing in Helsinki a light salad was served.
On both long-haul segments, the in-flight entertainment included AVOD TV and films, as well as some games, but I'm not a huge fan of watching movies on planes and the selection wasn't good enough to tempt me.
There was a very short wait in Helsinki before boarding the last leg to Heathrow. The flight was unremarkable, if very busy. The food served was the same roast chicken and lemon risotto that I'd eaten en-route to Tokyo a week earlier.
Overall, Finnair offers fantastic value for money on flights to the Far East. I've always found the staff to be great, the food is edible and even the older seats are comfortable enough - certainly better than any premium economy offering that you might pay similar money for.
Thanks for the info. I am doing exactly that route in May so really helpful insight to what is expected.
Posted by: Chris Bullen | Mar 06, 2012 at 09:07 PM