Review of Finnair flight Helsinki Osaka in Economy

Airline Finnair
Flight AY77
Class Economy
Seat 46L
Aircraft Airbus A330-300
Flight time 09:35
Take-off 11 Nov 17, 17:25
Arrival at 12 Nov 17, 10:00
AY   #32 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 205 reviews
marathon
By GOLD 4046
Published on 8th March 2018
This is the second leg of this trip to Japan:

CDG – HEL : AY1574 (A320)
HEL - KIX : AY077 (A330-300) You are here
KIX – HEL : AY078 (A330-300)
HEL - CDG : AY1577 (A319)

This may not be the most glamorous exclusivity on this website, but this is the first report on a HEL-KIX flight, in any class of travel. The report of the previous flight was the first one in English on the CDG-HEL route, an even less glamorous exclusivity, and it ended with the call just before boarding this flight.
photo img_4478a
In my comparison between AF and AY (among other options), I had included a modest 6 EUR supplement each for choosing our seats in this A330. Nine months in advance, there was ample choice.
photo clipboard03c
One of clinching factors was precisely the 2-4-2 configuration of Finnair’s A330, to be compared with the sardine packing 3-4-3 layout of an AF 777, and therefore a duo seat for us, with an aisle seat for my wife who wants to be able to move around, next to a window seat for the window addict that I am, especially when flying over land.
photo img_4479a
An apple green cushion and a fleece blanket were on each seat; the window was correctly aligned at our row.
photo img_4480a
Space in the overhead bins was not going to be a problem for us because our carry-on luggage was limited to two small daypacks which would fit under the seats in front of us.
photo img_4481a
The carpet was clean under the seats and in the aisle too.
photo img_4482a
Bad news : there was an IFE box at my feet.
Good news : the miniaturization of electronics reached this aircraft, which resulted in a slim box
Bad news : the programs turned out to be even slimmer than this box.
photo img_4483a
The IFE has a touch screen, but you had to touch it hard to convince it to react
photo img_4491a
The remote control was in the armrest, mercifully protected by a cover.
photo img_4494aphoto img_4498a
The seat pitch was paradoxically less generous than in the A320 of the CDG-HEL flight.
photo img_4485aphoto img_4486a
Removing the magazines recovered only 3 cm additional space for the legs, resulting in still 5 cm less than in the A320.
photo img_4487a
The plastic wrapping forgotten in the bottom of the seat pocket would not change anything in that matter.
photo img_4488a
The seat width was not very generous either.
photo img_4495a
The armrest (photographed here when deplaning) does not fold up any further than that, which is a little bit of nuisance for moving around. It seems to me that it could have been easily designed so that it could be flush with the seat (like in AF’s A32x, for instance.
photo img_4783a
The ventilation grilles could be closed, unlike other aircraft where ice-cold air sometimes pours on hapless passengers.
photo img_4497a
My wife always finds it somewhat disparaging that a woman should be one-legged, or conversely that decency mandates that she keeps her legs tightly together.
photo img_4730a
The safety card, both sides
photo img_4499a
Standard meals are offered on long haul flights, on the contrary of European flights, so only the right hand side of this BOB menu was applicable.
photo img_4501a
But not the restriction in small type, for a dozen of destinations which do not include KIX.
photo img_4500a
Not only it was already night in HEL, but it was raining, which meant that plane spotting would be limited.
photo img_4484a
The JAL 787 pushed back before us
photo img_4492aphoto img_4493b

Our turn to push back, and this is my excuse for the absence of planes spotting while taxiing
photo img_4503a
Safety demonstration on the IFE screens
photo img_4504a
The interchange between Expressways E75 and E18, the latter being completely hidden by the wing. In a different season, and therefore in daytime, we would have had a perfect view of Helsinki Malmi Airport, far right of Expressway E75. I hardly saw anything more of Finland because the cloud ceiling was very low.
photo img_4509a
The IFE screen on the partition ahead of the second Economy cabin displays the moving map.
photo img_4513aphoto img_4511a
I don’t quite see the point in providing the time in the time zone of the current location of the plane, but why not.
photo img_4516a
Winglet in the night
photo img_4514a
Finnair corporate advertising for its business class
photo img_4518aphoto img_4519a
Distribution of a small oshibori
photo img_4520a
It was already too late for this woman who had already crashed to sleep
photo img_4521a
The music offering is skeletal : it fits in hardly more than two screens
photo img_4522aphoto img_4523a
No kidding, not even one classical music recording? Sibelius must be turning over in his grave.
photo img_4524a
I did not try these headphones:
photo img_4496a
They were to be connected there:
photo img_4528a
The meal was served this way, with lots of smiles (like in all interactions with the passengers)
photo img_4530a
This was the whole set after unwrapping.
photo img_4536a
Meatballs with cream sauce : not much of a change from Sweden for me.
photo img_4532a
The appetizer (蕎麦 soba) was conversely typically Japanese.
photo img_4542a
The seasoning came from there.
photo img_4539a
I reached my limits there because Finnish is much more difficult than Japanese, IMO. There was something about lactose on the right, but only after this flight did my friend Google Translate tell me that it meant “without lactose”.
photo img_4543a
The cup on the right was in fact a highly tasteless variety of processed cheese. Finland’s dairy industry lost an opportunity to score a point there.
photo img_4545a
My wife often chooses a hot dish different from mine, so that we can exchange them if one is unpalatable to one of us, but acceptable to the other, which was the case this time.
photo img_4546a
The Marathons are « very black » chocolate lovers : this white chocolate had not chance of winning Finnair a bonus point.
photo img_4548a
All this was edible, in sufficient quantity, but also very disappointing from the taste point of view (apart from the soba, but that is part of my Japanese culture). In particular, my wife did not like the beef with rice and I found the meatball with mashed potatoes especially tasteless. In short, I was not convinced by the future of some Finnish children in a career in an air catering company.
photo img_4529a
I drank apple juice (and later coffee) with that.
photo img_4535a
To the health of my readers !
photo img_4537a
The last step in the game was to compact the rubbish. To make things more interesting, I added the hot meal plate of my wife, which was a different type and did not stack well with the other one.
photo img_4547a
That was an easy challenge though, and this was the result:
photo img_4550a
All these compacted wrappings fit in the seat pocket without messing it.
photo img_4552a
The seats did not recline a lot, but nevertheless to much if you try to use your laptop behind a reclined seat. It was time to take some rest, anyway.
photo img_4553a
The situation degraded much later into the flight, and the conversation with a FA in the galley kept circling in my mind :

The cabin is new, but it is an old aircraft. I was against leaving so quickly after the hydraulic piping was repaired; I don’t know if it will hold.

And now, there we were in a continuously swerving and bouncing aircraft in the descent. The engine power kept changing: it was obvious that the pilots had lost the rudder and were struggling to control the trajectory with the differential power of the engines.

The FA whispered to me during the cabin check before landing : In a situation like this, it’s everybody… or nobody
But I had no doubt: I would survive to post THE flight report of my career.

There was complete silence in the cabin – a tribute to the amazing Japanese composure when the situation seems hopeless.

And then the edge of a forest appeared: the plane swerved once more and just made it above the tree line, and there appeared (“like in a fairy tale”, my wife whispered) the grass of a clearing, or rather the edge of an airport. But the landing gear hadn’t dropped: the pilots were going for a belly landing! I fumbled to reach my camera – how could I not already have it in hand in such a situation? I laid my hand on my spare camera, switched it on, but in this kind of circumstance, you can push the wrong button and I switched it off by mistake. It was already too late for the picture of the edge of the forest but I was already thinking about the title picture of my Flight Report : the half destroyed aircraft on the ground, shot full frame.

And then, suddenly, the engine rpm returned to normal, and in the dark and silent cabin, I told the story of my nightmare to my wife who concluded:

Still, you must be slightly disappointed to not be able to tell such an adventure… ;-)

photo img_4557a
Well, I just told it! But exactly three hours of sleep were not many, because we were only there into the flight (my wife went back to sleep).
photo img_4556a
The unacceptable shortcoming of the moving map program was that it cycled between several presentations of the information, some that I did not like at all, like this one where the position of the plane is completely masked by the time and distance data, without any option to select a specific view.
photo img_4564a
The program also cycled between three languages (Finnish, English, Japanese), and I suspect that many non-Japanese passengers had a hard time with that latter language.
photo img_4573a
I was lucky there : the plane did not hide it, but not everybody on board could read ウランバートル (Ulaanbaatar)
photo img_4583a
Only when this damn information widow disappears could I discover that we were flying not very far fromイルクーツク, you understood Irkutsk, of course.
photo img_4582a
The fake cockpit instruments presentation is great for vintage aviation geeks, but very irritating when you see a city (in daytime) and can’t localize yourself immediately on the moving map.
photo img_4584a
The designer of this program must have been proud to have modeled the A330 from all axes, but once you’ve seen it once or twice, it is nothing but a sequence which masks the useful information without providing anything extra.
photo img_4579aphoto img_4585a
You probably understood that it did not take much time after departing from ヘルシンキ (Helsinki, of course) for this moving map to disappoint me a lot, much like my wife was very disappointed by the skeletal audio and video offering.
photo img_4574a
I took advantage of my wife going to the toilet to go to the rear of the aircraft.
photo img_4590a
The offering in the rear galley was limited to water, fruit juice,
photo img_4591a
… and a few soft drink cans .
photo img_4593a
I asked and obtained without any difficulty some coffee.
photo img_4595a
Food was limited to a basket of sweet and salty cookies, and milk chocolate sweets : the bare minimum for a legacy airline.
photo img_4592a
Door shot
photo img_4596a
Since I was there, I could have a look at the toilets.

Chinese and English are in that order the two most used languages in the world. As a bonus, the Japanese can understand the general meaning of a text written in Chinese (whereas the reverse is not true). Not only is Finnish in the bottom of the ranking of national languages in terms of number of speakers worldwide, but the Finns like all Nordic people are usually fluent in English: Finnair does not even bother translating the signage in the cabin into its official language. How many legacy airlines in the world do the same?
photo img_4597aphoto img_4599a
What should be deducted from the fact that the recommendation to throw toilet paper only and flush the toilet after use appears in Chinese only?
photo img_4601a
No matter which language is used to write it, the toilets of this plane are spotless ; I expected no less of the passengers of a HEL-KIX flight.
photo img_4598a
Finnair is one of many airlines who believe that baby care is for women only.
photo img_4600a
This frame on the wall, rear right, contained a laminated checklist in case of emergency.
photo img_4602a
This was what the FAs would have done had my nightmare been for real.
photo img_4606a
Side view of the galley, so that FAs are out of the frame on the left.
photo img_4607a
Back to the dark cabin. Note by the way that Finnair’s FAs do not have the passengers lower the window shades during a night flight, unlike Korean Air FAs who mandate that window shades be lowered during a day flight (I’ll never forgive KE for that obnoxious rule).
photo img_4608a
Daylight appeared progressively, but at a brisk pace because we were now heading south-east.
photo img_4613aphoto img_4615a
The earlier rays of sun lit the lower parts of the wing
photo img_4618aphoto img_4619a
… and then the winglet only.
photo img_4622a
There could have been a fuel dump nozzle here, but few A330s have one, unlike the A340s.
photo img_4625aphoto img_4627a
The winglet with the simple Finnair logo
photo img_4628a
Some snow on the relief in an otherwise shapeless landscape.
photo img_4629a
When the passenger ahead of me reclined his seat…
photo img_4631a
… using my laptop was becoming really inconvenient.
photo img_4632a
Winglet at dawn
photo img_4633a
The planes I spotted in the Chinese airspace were too far to be identifiable.
photo img_4635a
The passenger in front straightened his seat back : it suddenly became much easier to continue typing my FR.
photo img_4642a
We were there into the flight.
photo img_4643a
You would not expect to be able to spot Beijing !
photo img_4645a
But did you identify the landmark here, full frame ?
photo img_4649a
No ? Small wonder : it took me extensive image processing to obtain PEK as seen from 30,000 feet, including a few thousands of feet of air pollution, especially in winter when the Chinese use low quality coal to heat their homes on top of that used in the power stations.
photo img_4649ba
How about here? Any better?
photo img_4661a
Image processing reveals the Beijing Tongxian air base
photo img_4661ba
The flight continued on charming Chinese countryside
photo img_4663a
… powered by charming power station burning high sulfur coal.
photo img_4666a
Light was switched on again in the cabin.
photo img_4667a
Flying around Tianjin
photo img_4670a
… but we only knew it from time to time because the stupid airmap program kept superimposing tourist pictures, like here Beijing’s Temple of Heaven, masking the position of the plane. It was all the more frustrating that the pictures were sometimes completely unrelated with the plane’s current location : we had the same pictures on the way back without entering the Chinese airspace at all.
photo img_4669a
The breakfast was served like this.
photo img_4671a
The same after unwrapping
photo img_4673a
I guess there is no need to describe in detail ? The omelet – small sausage – vegetables combination is the workhorse of a long haul Economy breakfast.
photo img_4674a
This was the detailed description of these 165 grams of food.
photo img_4672a
Yoghurt and orange juice : I made tremendous progress in Finnish during this flight.
photo img_4676a
I owe to OH-LWE (thanks !) to know that this was a "Karjalanpiiras," a Finnish rice pastry composed of a rye crust with a filling of rice (more details on Wikipedia here). I was not impressed (maybe the airline variety is not true to the real thing) and my wife abstained.
photo img_4678a
Skimmed milk with non-dairy fat of unspecified nature.
photo img_4679a
All this was easy to compact
photo img_4683a
… wrap up…
photo img_4685a
… and store cleanly in the sat pocket before the FAs came to collect it.
photo img_4686a
Meanwhile, we had reached the Korean peninsula, without seeing ICN which was under the cloud cover. Seoul and its airport were to the left of the aircraft, anyway.
photo img_4690a
The weather cleared up progressively.
photo img_4692a
I did not know where we were – again this poorly designed airmap – but I liked this scenery
photo img_4694aphoto img_4695a
Plumes of power stations : they are less beautiful, but maybe will a specialist of South Korea identify them ?
photo img_4697a
The cloud cover cleared up completely
photo img_4702a
More power stations
photo img_4708a
We left South Korea there
photo img_4717a
A view of the coast, without any image processing, to appreciate the difference of air clarity compared to the surroundings of PEK.
photo img_4718aphoto img_4721a
I enhanced the contrast here to highlight an interesting infrastructure on the coast.
photo img_4728a
This was Uljin Airport (UJA) which has been built without any serious market research and that no airline has accepted to serve, so that it remained unfinished since 2005,
photo img_4723aphoto img_4729a
Arrival on the Japanese coast, on the Sea of Japan side
photo img_4733a
There would be nothing to see while crossing through Honshū Island: the clouds kept clinging to the mountains.
photo img_4734a
We were on the wrong side for seeing the Naruto 鳴門 Straits, and possibly its famous whirlpools seen from this flight , this is the strait between Shikoku 四国 and Ōge 大毛 Island, the latter being the real south shore of the Naruto Straits.
photo img_4739a
Strictly speaking, this part of Naruto City is not the East end of Shikoku Island, but a smaller island separated from Shikoku by a sea channel.
photo img_4740a
Backlighting of clouds and could shadows
photo img_4741a
Small Nu Island 沼島, south of Awaji Island 淡路島 which is has the north short of the Naruto Straits
photo img_4743a
Jinoshima Island 地島 in the foreground
photo img_4746a
From the trajectory of the aircraft, we would be landing Runway 06L or 06R
photo img_4747aphoto img_4748a
Apparition of Runway 06R : touchdown was imminent
photo img_4751a
Kiss landing
photo img_4752a
Spoilers’ deployment
photo img_4753a
An Asiana Airlines A330-300 in backlighting conditions.
photo img_4756a
A Peach Aviation A320 (the only type of aircraft in the fleet of this LCC : this helps identifying them ;)
photo img_4757a
Arrival of a Jetstar A320
photo img_4760a
There she is on the ground
photo img_4764a
The weather was nice, but the right hand side of the aircraft was the wrong one for plane spotting during taxiing. All I could take was in the freight area this DL A300
photo img_4767a
A cargo China Airlines747
photo img_4768a
She was hiding three other freighters ; I did not even determine to which airline the last one belonged.
photo img_4770a
Malaysia Airlines A330
photo img_4772a
Cathay Pacific777
photo img_4775a
The road and railway bridge which is the only link to KIX on the ground.
photo img_4771a
The Japanese are avid users of bicycles for local travel and have been furious to discover too late that no bicycle lane had been included in the design of this bridge, when it would have been so easy to have one. (This sign was in the luggage delivery room, obviously for foreign cyclists who believed they could ride their bicycle directly from the airport).
photo img_4801a
Only in my nightmares have I ever seen this kind of equipment in action.
photo img_4777a
Arrival in the vicinity of the gate : an ANA 767 pushes back next to an Eva Air A330 at her gate.
photo img_4778a
Last turn alongside a Thai Airways777
photo img_4779a
Deplaning going through the second Business cabin : window seat
photo img_4784a
And central seats
photo img_4786a
I could not take a better picture of the aircraft
photo img_4787a
… but at least, I had the confirmation of her model
photo img_4789a
The ANA 767 left
photo img_4788a
The Thai Airways 777. The jetbridges have escaped to the well-known Hong-Kong bank’s advertising.
photo img_4790a
The terminal is so long that using a people mover is mandatory for reaching the arrivals area. The problem was not this short ride, but the endlessly snaking waiting line. Like in amusement parks, we could see only half of it initially. The only good thing was that it eventually reached a large number of active counters where each transaction was fast. This meant that the lien kept moving continuously, which was psychologically a lot more tolerable than waiting motionless. My wife also had the bad luck of being eventually in a “bad line”, behind a passenger who took more time than others to be processed. The time stamping of my pictures was less severe than my memory: 25 minutes elapsed between this picture and the next one, which means that the waiting time at the immigration, once the people mover ride was deducted, was hardly more than 20 minutes. I felt that it was much longer than that.
photo img_4791a
Does the communication try to force a decision here? Unlike what is implied in English and much more explicitly stated in Japanese and Chinese, nothing proves so far that Ōsaka will host the Expo 2025 : the decision is scheduled to be taken only in November 2018. As of flying (and posting this report too), Ōsaka was a candidate city only, and I discovered when writing this that Paris was also a candidate (there has been a lot of communication about the Paris’ bid for the 2024 Olympics, but I have seen nothing so far on this Expo).
photo img_4792a
We waited for a sufficiently long time at immigration, or rather the luggage handlers of KIX have been sufficiently efficient…
photo img_4793a
… for our luggage to be already there, neatly ordered by airport staff.
photo img_4794a
While my wife checked the toilets which were clean…
photo img_4797a
… I expected to be able to share with a passenger who had seen it before me this power port behind a fire extinguisher (I had a multi-socket adapter).
photo img_4799a
This socket was unfortunately of a type incompatible with Type A and Type B plugs in use in Japan. Much later, I found that this socket was similar, but not identical to the already exotic Panasonic WKS294 plug, unlikely to be found outside Japan. This alien socket had obviously been selected for installation here so that travelers can’t use it. No way to recharge my laptop which was becoming somewhat hungry – only during the flight back from KIX did I discover that there was a power port hidden under our seats.
photo img_4796a
Arrival landside : there is here an ample choice of data SIM cards,
photo img_4809a
… but not voice SIM cards, and the flyer for one of the data SIM cards specifies that it is not compatible with telephonic applications. The reason is that a Japanese law enacted in 2006 prohibits the delivery of a voice SIM card to a non-resident foreigner, or a foreigner having less than six months of residency status. A friend told me some years ago that it had been one of the biggest administrative hurdles after landing in Japan. On the other hand, you can rent phones, but both the daily rate and the communications are expensive.
(English edition update : I recently discovered two Japanese operators providing a data+voice SIM cards, one significantly more expensive than the other. I do not know the legal technicalities that they use)
photo img_4810a
Plain electric power is much less sensitive, but nevertheless hard to find. If you have a starving electronic appliance upon arrival landside in KIX, remember what follows. Go upstairs.
photo img_4813a
Pass along this Starflyer counter decorated with this model of one of their A320s
photo img_4811aphoto img_4812a
… and go right all the way to the end, in the direction of this Family Mart convenience store.
photo img_4814a
Once there, turn left beyond the Jetstar counter: there is at the far end a Post Office counter open every day (from where we sent bulky but not fragile presents to Japanese friends for a few hundred yen)
photo img_4817a
To the right, there are two ATMs, which like all ATMs of the Japanese Post Office and of 7-Eleven convenience stores are compatible with foreign bank cards (unlike the ATMs of Japanese banks)
photo img_4819a
And at the bottom of the wall on the right, not only next to the ATMs, there are powered Type B power ports which are waiting for you.
photo img_4818a
A last glimpse of air transport with tails of China Airlines (Taiwan), T’way Airlines (South Korea) and Juneyao Airlines (China), from left to right.
photo img_4820a
A nice architecture for the building of the rail station facing the terminal. There was this time very little waiting to obtain our regional train passes (there is a modest 1,000 JPY reduction if you order them on line ahead of time, but you pay for them upon arrival, unlike the national JR Pass which is much more expensive if you did not buy abroad ahead of time)
photo img_4822a
This was the end of this trip which had taken marginally more time than a direct flight because the connection in HEL was short and the detour negligible.

I now propose you two bonuses, like in the preceding report ; the first one is typically aviation geek, with some plane spotting in Ōsaka.

Bonus : Click here display


The conclusion of the preceding bonus provides me a transition to the next bonus which is much more “Traditional Japan” oriented: even though generational renewal is not reached, there are still babies in Japan.
Bonus : Click here display


Thanks for reading me!
See more

Verdict

Finnair

7.8/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering7.5

Helsinki - HEL

9.1/10
Efficiency10.0
Access9.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness10.0

Osaka - KIX

8.6/10
Efficiency7.0
Access10.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

The evaluation of this CDG-HEL-KIX trip is mixed, but nevertheless definitely positive. Let’s consider the long haul flight first.

The seats are somewhat narrow and the seat pitch is not generous, but the 2-4-3 diagram provides seat duos to couples at a very limited cost. It doesn’t look like much, but a 3-4-3 diagram is a guarantee that one of the two passengers is disadvantaged, or that they are separated by another traveler in the middle seat (the middle seat neutralization gamble is uncommon and succeeds at best every other flight).
The IFE is technically obsolete and its program is ridiculously limited. I was annoyed by the non-interactive moving map program, and my wife by the few audio and videos channels – and on the way back by the ergonomic limitations of the game due to the poor sensitivity of the touch screen.

Finnair’s long haul catering meets the specs, which means it does not exceed the minimum requirements. The only criterion where Finnair was significantly above average is that of the FAs who were consistently in the top range in terms of pleasant and credible smiles, and who all spoke good English.

Finnair and HEL cannot live off their domestic market or on regional connections: the impressive row of manual and automatic passport checking gates at the Schengen / Non Schengen border shows that the focus is on facilitating transits. There is much walking though : you can’t loaf around or spend time shopping in the terminals between flights (or else very quickly, if you know precisely what you want to buy and where).
There was a dearth of power ports in the vicinity of the boarding gate, but I saw in the return flight that there was at seat power.

The line at the immigration in KIX seemed excessive, but it moved quickly. Once the actual time spent was checked, it was acceptable and better, the luggage handlers had been fast.
Useable power sockets are hard to find in KIX (or maybe I do not know this airport well yet). The railway link is efficient, which is no surprise in one of the most rail friendly countries in the world.

Information on the route Helsinki (HEL) Osaka (KIX)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Helsinki (HEL) → Osaka (KIX).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Finnair avec 7.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 9 heures et 27 minutes.

  More information

12 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 436118 by
    sonicpanda 1 Comments
    Superb trip report as always!
  • Comment 436129 by
    OH-LWE 33 Comments
    Awesome report!
    The breakfast item that you ate is called a "Karjalanpiiras," a Finnish rice pastry. It is composed of a rye crust with a filling of rice.
    Cheers!
  • Comment 436163 by
    Ge90man 3 Comments
    I'm getting some Alitalia vibes from the seats, since I think they use the same seats as them in their a330s too.
    • Comment 436166 by
      marathon GOLD AUTHOR 10106 Comments
      The seats are not strictly identical : there are minor differences, such as the location of the remote control, the presence of an USB port... but it's obviously the same provider.
      Thanks for pointing this out !
  • Comment 436554 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6658 Comments
    Thanks for this first report from HEL to KIX Marathon! I'm sure there's a joke to be made somewhere in there with those airport codes, but I'm not witty enough ^^

    "One of clinching factors was precisely the 2-4-2 configuration of Finnair’s A330, to be compared with the sardine packing 3-4-3 layout of an AF 777"
    - A good choice indeed! The A330 and 767 fuselage cross-sections remain favourites in Y thanks to the 2-4-2 and 2-3-2 configurations respectively. 3-4-3 777s are just unbearable for me. I just saw today that the new Boeing 797 will have a 2-3-2 configuration, woo hoo!

    "There was something about lactose on the right, but only after this flight did my friend Google Translate tell me that it meant “without lactose”."
    - Ah, too bad it wasn't also written in English! I am lactose intolerant and would have probably missed out on eating something that I could actually eat not knowing that it says without lactose.

    Lovely aerials as usual, except for Beijing, but that's not your fault...it's coal's fault. Someone should show those pics to Trump since he wants to bring coal back in the U.S....see what it does!?

    Thanks for sharing!
    • Comment 436578 by
      marathon GOLD AUTHOR 10106 Comments
      "Thanks for this first report from HEL to KIX Marathon! I'm sure there's a joke to be made somewhere in there with those airport codes, but I'm not witty enough ^^"
      - We were whacked that evening upon reaching Fukuoka all the way from Helsinki. In short, it was HEL to FUK.
      (You asked for it, you got it^^)

      “The A330 and 767 fuselage cross-sections remain favourites in Y thanks to the 2-4-2 and 2-3-2 configurations respectively. 3-4-3 777s are just unbearable for me. I just saw today that the new Boeing 797 will have a 2-3-2 configuration, woo hoo!”
      - Interesting news about the 797! A plane with duo seats in Economy beats any Neutralized Middle Seat Lottery, even if the latter has the best IFE in the market, IMO.

      “I am lactose intolerant and would have probably missed out on eating something that I could actually eat not knowing that it says without lactose. “
      - Finnish is a weird language, but at least you can type it into an off line translator, unlike non Latin alphabet language.

      “Lovely aerials as usual, except for Beijing, but that's not your fault...it's coal's fault. Someone should show those pics to Trump since he wants to bring coal back in the U.S....see what it does!?”
      - In China, it’s illegal to publish independent pollution measurements and Xi changed the Constitution to stay in power for life. Is that really the role model you suggest for Trump?

      Thanks for your comments !
  • Comment 437564 by
    jetsetpanda 2283 Comments
    Thank you Marathon for sharing another entertaining and informative series.

    "but this is the first report on a HEL-KIX flight, in any class of travel."
    -Congratulations for being the first to write about this route. I can't think of a more deserving contributor to carry this honor. ;)

    " I had included a modest 6 EUR supplement each for choosing our seats in this A330"
    - These charges seem petty for a legacy carrier, especially on a long haul route to Asia.

    "An apple green cushion and a fleece blanket were on each seat;"
    - At least the colors match each other nicely.

    "The armrest (photographed here when deplaning) does not fold up any further than that, which is a little bit of nuisance for moving around."
    - What happened to Nordic design? With AY it seems that there is too much aesthetics but little functionality.

    "My wife always finds it somewhat disparaging that a woman should be one-legged, or conversely that decency mandates that she keeps her legs tightly together."
    - Mme. is right, and not all women wear skirts.

    "so only the right hand side of this BOB menu was applicable."
    - Flying AY in Y is getting more attractive. Look at the amount of choices from the BOB menu. :P

    "This was the whole set after unwrapping."
    - The appetizer is not a salad like AA and they try to offer something typical of the destination. Fazer chocolate for dessert! So Finnish! Yes, the chocolate could have been dark, but you can't please everyone. By the way, I find dark chocolates to be preferable too. If only the portions were bigger and the utensils were metal.

    "In short, I was not convinced by the future of some Finnish children in a career in an air catering company."
    - Perhaps an advice to do an internship in France should be given for future prospects in the food industry. ;)

    "Food was limited to a basket of sweet and salty cookies, and milk chocolate sweets : the bare minimum for a legacy airline."
    - AA just puts the leftovers like crackers, cheese and pretzels from the dinner service. I don't know which is worse.

    "Winglet at dawn"
    - Beautiful!

    "this was a "Karjalanpiiras," a Finnish rice pastry composed of a rye crust with a filling of rice "
    - Now you have stirred my curiosity. I'm intrigued by how this tastes.

    Gorgeous bonus with friends at the end and the display of stunning attires. Your FR's are always so informative and contain that special perspective from a seasoned worldly traveler. Thanks for sharing your personal experiences with us.
    • Comment 437818 by
      marathon GOLD AUTHOR 10106 Comments
      “These charges (6 EUR supplement each for choosing our seats) seem petty for a legacy carrier, especially on a long haul route to Asia.”
      - It is cheap enough so that anybody who cares about it can afford it, and passengers who do not care or want rock bottom fares leave more desirable seats.

      "The armrest (photographed here when deplaning) does not fold up any further than that, which is a little bit of nuisance for moving around. -> What happened to Nordic design? With AY it seems that there is too much aesthetics but little functionality.”
      - Strange design error, indeed

      "My wife always finds it somewhat disparaging that a woman should be one-legged, or conversely that decency mandates that she keeps her legs tightly together. -> Mme. is right, and not all women wear skirts ->
      - You seem to know my wife well ;)

      " Flying AY in Y is getting more attractive. Look at the amount of choices from the BOB menu. :P”
      - I am willing to pay for a window seat, but reluctant to pay for BOB food. A matter of personal priorities ;)

      “The appetizer is not a salad like AA and they try to offer something typical of the destination. Fazer chocolate for dessert! So Finnish! Yes, the chocolate could have been dark, but you can't please everyone. By the way, I find dark chocolates to be preferable too. If only the portions were bigger and the utensils were metal. “
      - Plastic rubbish is more an issue to me than eating with plasticware.

      "Perhaps an advice to do an internship in France should be given for future prospects in the food industry”
      -> Better do this internship fast before AF transfers all its domestic flights to Joon and Transavia.

      " AA just puts the leftovers like crackers, cheese and pretzels from the dinner service. I don't know which is worse.”
      - You try hard to set AA as the legacy zero reference of the scale ;)

      "Now you have stirred my curiosity. I'm intrigued by how Karjalanpiiras tastes.”
      - Better leave rice recipes to rice growers, IMO, especially on a flight to the Far East.

      “Gorgeous bonus with friends at the end and the display of stunning attires. Your FR's are always so informative and contain that special perspective from a seasoned worldly traveler. Thanks for sharing your personal experiences with us. "
      - My pleasure! I’m looking forward to flying back to Japan soon. Thanks for your comments!
  • Comment 557920 by
    AllForTix 1 Comments
    Dear Marathon,

    last year we decided to go to Japan a decision that started to give me sweats because I'm very much afraid of flying. Reading your reports gave me some peace of mind. Here's a guy that hops on a plane without thinking and is more concerned about measuring the meal with a measuring tape than with the possibility of the plane crashing. I had great laughs.

    Thanks!

Login to post a comment.