Hello everyone, welcome to another flight report!
Today, I'll be flying to Manchester on Finnair, transiting through Helsinki. This trip report features the first part of this journey, as I fly from Hong Kong to Helsinki.
Flight routing
- 1AY100 - Economy - Hong Kong → Helsinki - Airbus A350-900
- 2
Aircraft: OH-LWE (Airbus A350-941)
Age of aircraft as of flight: 8.6 years
Flight number: AY100
Scheduled flight time: 20:35 (+8) - 05:45 (+3) | 14h10m
Actual flight time: 20:55 (+8) - 05:04 (+3) | 13h09m
Seat: 66F (Economy)
Booking
Originally, we have booked our flight to depart 2 weeks later. Due to changes in our itinerary, we changed our flight to the 20th, where we only needed to pay the ticket price difference with no additional costs.
2 months before departure, we received an email from Finnair saying that they have rebooked us to fly one day before (From 20th to 19th). I then checked on Google Flights, Finnair has cancelled their HKG-HEL flight on 20th August! This was rather surprising to us, but fortunately we weren't highly affected by this disruption.
The ticket we purchased are "Economy Classic", where 23kg of baggage, a hand baggage, and a small personal item summing up to 8kgs are allowed. In addition to that, an extra baggage (Below 23kg) was also purchased for 75 Euros/ 9800 Avios (more than 6 days prior departure), where the fee can also be 85 Euros/ 11100 Avios within 6 days of departure until 65 minutes prior to departure time.
Note that we do not need to collect our bags at Helsinki, they get handled by Finnair.
Under "Economy Classic", seat selection requires an extra fee. That is, when I was allowed to check in, the seats were already assigned unless I pay an extra fee. That's not too good when you're allocated a not-so-good seat (Keep reading below).
Arrival at the airport
I arrived at the airport by the airport bus. Lots of Cathay Pacific's aircraft can be seen parked during the bus ride.
The airport is overall crowded during the afternoon rush hours. The airport entrance after I got off the bus.
The Finnair check-in counter is located at aisle K of Terminal 1. It opens at 17:35, 3 hours before scheduled departure time. The check-in queue is unexpectedly crowded, resulting in long waiting time. Check-in counter staffing is regular, with 5 for Economy + Premium Economy, and 2 for Business Class.
The check-in board is also attached below, with our flight shown on the lower-right corner i.e. the latest flight they could show.
The counter staff are very nice and considerate, who diverted some economy passengers to use business check-in counters.
After security, we arrived at gate 7, where we didn't have to walk too far to reach.
The Finnair crew having a briefing at the gate. Most of them are local Hong Kongers and speak Cantonese.
Boarding
Boarding started on time at around 19:50, 20 minutes before scheduled departure. The flight was very full as I overheard the check-in staff mentioning.
The boarding procedure is fairly efficient as we departed on time.
The aircraft is OH-LWE, a 8.6 year-old Airbus A350-900 featuring 43 Business class seats (1-2-1), 24 Premium Economy seats (2-4-2) and 211 Economy seats (3-3-3).
As the flight is nearly full, we could not find anywhere to place our carry-on bags, and had to place them 5 rows ahead of us.
Cabin and seat
My seat 66F, that I did not change (You need to pay to choose/ change your seat!). It is the last row of Economy seat in the middle section, Aisle seat, next to the bathroom.
The following picture is the seat of my travelling companion.
The seat features a touch screen TV, with a malfunctioning USB charging port and a headphone port featured below. This is followed by a nice small storage compartment containing the safety card. Beneath it is a double-folded table.
Legroom is said to be 31 inches, which is pretty standard for a 13-hour flight. This picture is also of my seat companion's.
Headphones, a (very local) bottle of water and a blanket are given. A storage pocket is also featured right below.
The headrest is adjustable in gray colors, however pictures regarding these have not been taken. The seat comfort is nice.
Overall, the seat itself is pretty new, with Nordic styles. However, the USB charging port did not work anytime during the flight, except when the aircraft was parked. The universal power outlet is nowhere to be found either, even under our seats, which makes it slightly troublesome.
Takeoff
Despite not having a window near our seats, I can still view the outside environment from the cameras installed on the belly and the tail.
We were then pushed back and took off at runway 25L at 20:55, 20 minutes later than scheduled departure time.
A good friend spotted our flight taking off!
We then climbed and turned left, eventually exited Hong Kong airspace from the North.
In-flight entertainment/ Wi-Fi
The touch screen of the entertainment system is functional. A medium variety of entertainment choices is provided, such as movies or games.
The entertainment system provides many useful information to passengers, such as the departure and landing schedule, and the suggested sleeping and dining schedule.
The weather and distance information.
Tail and belly cameras are also featured on the Airbus A350, as well as menu items (see below). Multiple languages can also be chosen, but traditional Chinese (Language of Hong Kong) is missing from the list. Anyhow, I think Finnair did a nice job keeping the passengers informed of their flight status.
I did not test out the Wi-Fi service, but it requires payment as an add-on to the services. Other add-on includes the previously mentioned seat selection (extra and non-extra legroom), and extra baggage.
First meal service | dinner
Dinner was served 1.5 hours after takeoff. As expected, it comes in a paper box unlike most other airlines. On the positive side, it's more "environmentally friendly" I guess??
The entertainment system shows the menu, which is very nice for passengers (especially for flight reviewers like me haha).
Allow me to translate the menu. For the hot dish, passengers are allowed to choose from 2 (both Asian) options: stir-fried chicken in oyster sauce with rice and vegetables (Chosen option), OR beef with egg noodles and mixed vegetables. The main dish is accompanied by a bread roll with butter, a pasta salad as cold plate, and a beverage of choice. A KitKat is also served as "dessert".
And here is what dinner looks like. I went for the chicken option, and the signature blueberry juice for beverage, which is behind the paper box and not shown here.
The chicken with rice tastes quite nice, the flavors and textures are actually fine.
The part where Finnair did terribly is the pasta salad. The flavors are basically weird and the fusilli is undercooked.
The overall impression the meal gives me is that Finnair seems to turn themselves into a budget airline?? I'm not sure what conclusion I should give, given what I experience.
Basically it's just weird seeing food served in paper boxes, we are no longer in the pandemic. And both meal options seeming to be oriental is fascinating as well. And the KitKat for dessert… they can do better at least.
Overall, the meal is actually fine if we neglect the pasta salad. I'd give a 7/10, and improvements can certainly be made.
Mid-flight at night
This flight is a red-eye, and I have slept through most of the flight.
Snacks and beverages are provided for passengers in the galley, including biscuits and chocolate.
A detour to the Caucasus and Eastern Europe is required, making the overall flight around 3 hours longer than original (a few years back).
Second meal service | breakfast
Breakfast was served 1.5 hours before landing. It is also served inside a paper box.
Passengers are only provided with this option. The breakfast box features an omelet, potato dices, baked beans, accompanied by broccoli and a cherry tomato.
Its taste is just fine, just being unexpectedly vegetarian. Everything is in the way that it should be, except for the paper box that makes the meal feel small. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing outstanding or terrible, it's a 6/10 for this meal.
Landing
The approach was slightly uneventful, with massive turbulences towards the end of the flight. We approached from the North of Helsinki.
We lined up for runway 15. One of the nice things about the Airbus A350 is the camera which allows me to enjoy the view without getting the window seat. The sun was just rising in the morning.
We landed on runway 15 at 05:04, 40 minutes ahead of schedule. Looking at the past records, Finnair has an outstanding on-time performance on this route, often arriving up to 1 hour earlier than scheduled. We then taxied to our gate.
Deboarding
We arrived at gate 49 before disembarking.
The airport terminal.
One last look at our aircraft, OH-LWE, from the arrivals (upper) floor of Helsinki airport.
Transferring at Helsinki
We got through passport checking and security quickly. The transfer at Helsinki airport is indeed speedy, it did not take long for us to get through security. However, some other passengers' carry-on bags need to go through checking again, so please pack the bags carefully before going onto a flight.
Our next flight departs from the non-Schengen zone, at gate 43.
The airport is very quiet in the early morning. There are shops around, but most remain closed.
Beautiful Helsinki Airport in the morning with 8 degrees outside! Many aircraft are parked and are waiting for departure to European destinations.
More about Helsinki Airport on the next flight report, where I will fly from Helsinki to Manchester. Stay tuned!
Thanks for sharing this FR on AY's long-haul product. Considering the length of their intra-European flights, they must be offering good fares to compete with BA/CX on OW routes to Europe ex-HKG. Catering looks very cheap in the eco-packaging, presentation is usually a large factor in the perception of Y meals and AY is not doing themselves any favors with this strategy. At least their IFE is better than BA's B787s even if you didn't have charging^^ Do they only have USB-A, or did they also have USB-C installed in these new cabins?
Hi there NGO85, thanks for stopping by!
Indeed, the fares are relatively cheaper than flying directly/ all other airlines that involve transiting. That is after a baggage is included with the ticket. But I'm not too sure what do you mean by "OW routes".
Well that's the major weakness of AY... It really feels like they're a bit short on budget, not a good impression. But the taste is mostly fine though.
The IFE is definitely better, with larger touch screens (meanwhile BA using a remote...), a quite nice user interface, and with many functions too. At least the hardware product of the seats look newer and more neat. I only used USB-A charging ports, so I didn't really notice whether there are USB-C ports.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for your report! The product does leave much to be desired (especially when compared with other Asian carriers), but I suppose that's the way how European airlines do flights now. I'm still surprised that there are still 2 full meals on the flight though, considering LH cut the second one long ago.
Thanks for reading!
I agree with that, especially when Finnair begins to somehow behave like an LCC with all sorts of add-ons that you can choose and pay for, like Wi-Fi, meal (for the short haul), even seat selection. Only the bare basic is included as complimentary. Whats separating AY from becoming an LCC is their service remains decent, with quite a nice seat and two full meals provided as you mentioned, but nothing much else.
Oh I didn’t know that. And let’s hope I get to try other airlines in the upcoming future.
As expected the service seems quite basic, but still acceptable, especially if the price is consistently better than the competition. Finnair have struggled to survive since not being able to overfly Russia for their Asian routes, so some cost-cutting and LCC-like fees are unavoidable. It sounds like they've just keeping their heads above water and I really wish them well in this uphill battle, especially since Asia-Europe connections was historically their bread and butter. While the meal in a box isn't fancy, the contents seem pretty decent.
I'll be flying Finnair long-haul myself for the first time next month, but in Premium Economy, and really looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by!
I can really feel that they’re trying to find ways to survive amid such harsh conditions for them, and that means they really have to sacrifice quality of service for a competitive ticket price. At least they have a completely filled flight and seems like they’re making money!
Seems like AY's service has downgraded a lot comparing it to five years ago when I flew them last on a longhaul route. Food served in a carton box? No 2nd option for breakfast? It seems like AY is following SK on their longhaul plan and it is definitely not for the better, but I fear they probably have to cut a lot of services given the re-routing they have to make for any Asian flight (given Russia's Airspace) to be able to remain at affordable prices.....
Do you actually know the reason for them to cancel the original flight?
Thanks for this report.
Hello there!
Indeed, their HKG-HEL flight now needs to re-route and an extra 3-4 hours is required to complete this flight... I might still choose AY when flying to Europe for their tempting prices and *still decent* service, but if I wish for more then perhaps other carriers e.g. AF-KL or LX in the expense of paying for slightly more.
Absolutely no idea till today. I received the email about changing my itinerary, and when I checked google flights for the same date (route HKG-HEL non-stop) they seemed to have 20th August blank. Same for the Finnair website. Fortunately that makes no particular impact to me.
Thanks for reading!
I'm not sure whether I'd like to fly finnair or not. They sometimes have some interesting fares to Asia but I don't know if the detour to HEL with the IB service on the MAD-HEL leg, and what seems underwhelming service on the longhaul are worth it. Once you add on all what they charge for bags and seats, it may be worth to go the extra mile and fly TK, EY or EK.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading!
They were included in the possible options too, unfortunately EY no longer flies to HKG. I took the baggage fare of Finnair into account as well, where they were still cheaper than the alternatives who included baggage.
That’s another thing I have put into consideration. Helsinki airport has one of the most simple security checking for transfer passengers, and it’s not that easy to get lost. This total itinerary may seem lengthy when comparing with non-stop flights (e.g. CX’s 14 hours), and when comparing with other alternatives (EK 18-19 hours; LX 17-18 hours) it doesn’t seem so bad for AY 😂😂 (FYI 19-20 hours).
AY’s service is indeed not as satisfactory, and choosing which airline to fly with really depends on what our priorities are. Mine was to pay as little as possible, and possibly finding somewhere that is transit-friendly. Plus, I think trying out new airlines once in a while is something fun to do too (or else you guys won’t be reading this flight report haha).