Hello everyone, welcome to another flight report!
I'll be flying from Hong Kong to Manchester on Finnair, transiting through Helsinki. This trip report features the second part of this journey, as I fly from Helsinki to Manchester.
Flight routing
- 1
- 2AY1361 - Economy - Helsinki → Manchester - Airbus A319-100
Aircraft: OH-LVI (Airbus A319-100)
Age of aircraft as of flight: 23.9 years
Flight number: AY1361
Scheduled flight time: 08:20 (+3) - 09:20 (+1) | 3h0m
Actual flight time: 08:21 (+3) - 09:02(+1) | 2h41m
Seat: 21F (Economy)
Since I booked my tickets along with my last flight, AY100, we were allowed to bring 23kg of checked baggage and 7kg of cabin baggage. I don't need to retrieve my bags, they go straight to Manchester.
Transferring at Helsinki
After having arrived from my last flight, AY100, I headed straight to security checking.
Security checking is rapidly done. We then headed to gate 43, which is in the non-Schengen area. The airport was very quiet early in the morning, with barely anybody around.
With a few more hours to spare, let's do some plane spotting!
OH-LWL, an A350-900 in the Marimekko Kivet Livery.
Some more narrow bodies waiting for morning departure to other European destinations.
A model of the Helsinki non-Schengen terminal building.
Boarding
Our flight departs from gate 43, a relatively short walk from the security checking area.
Our aircraft, OH-LVI parked at the gate. Beautiful weather in Helsinki!
Boarding started on time.
Look! It says "Helsinki Airport" right there!
Cabin and seat
The aircraft taking us to Manchester today is OH-LVI, a 23.9-year-old Airbus A319-100. The aircraft first flew in 2000, and was delivered to Finnair in March 2003. There are 144 seats in total, with up to 32 seats/ 8 rows for business class.
(And yes, a close-up photo for my aircraft)
My seat is 21F, a window seat in the rear section of the cabin. Legroom is said to be 31 inches, which is fairly enough for a short haul. My companion's seat for reference.
A seat pocket and tray table are featured. There is also a upper storage compartment containing the safety instruction card.
Overall, the seat comfort is nice enough for a 3-hour European flight.
Takeoff
We then began to taxi. The sun has mostly risen.
Crossing runway 04R/ 22L.
We took off from runway 22R at 08:21.
Goodbye, Helsinki!
We then proceeded to climb.
Snack service
The section heading is rather misleading; only a cup of complimentary beverage is served, as simple as that. Passengers can choose from the regular juices, coffee or tea. Other food or snacks require payment to purchase. This is rather disappointing.
I'm not sure how I should react to this, as I can assume European airlines provide minimal service on their short-haul flights. I've seen airlines only providing a tiny pack of snack (Refer to here), but only providing a beverage… I always feel like being on a budget airline but with nice seats when flying within Europe.
Mid-flight
We flew over the Scandinavian countries before crossing the North Sea and entering British territory. Here are some pictures.
Landing
We began our descend into Manchester. Some countryside view in England, and over the Manchester suburbs.
We eventually landed on runway 23R at 09:02, 18 minutes early.
Deboarding
We then taxied to gate 22 at terminal 1. An Emirates A380 can be seen parked on the way.
Manchester airport
We conducted immigration procedures, which is mostly quick and efficient.
Surprisingly, payment of 1 British Pound is required for baggage cart rental. Staff assistance is required to access the carts, as things did not go well after the e-payment process. Baggage claim is mostly rapid.
This concludes my Finnair journey from Hong Kong to Manchester, transiting at Helsinki! Thank you for reading, please stay tuned for future flight reports.
Thanks for sharing this FR. Again, AY does not entice prospective customers with their product. The pitch is okay, but their fleet is old and lack charging ports which is a big miss for a carrier that operates a lot of mid-range intra-European routes. Does their WiFi connection at least offer free flight map? AY is certainly well behind AF in terms of catering, but still better than LH.
Hello there!
Sorry, I did not test that out as in-flight Wi-Fi requires extra payment (as a pre-paid add-on on their website).
I hope to try out other airlines too in the future to make the comparison!
This is why on the London flights its best to pay extra for the A350/A330 flights rather than the A320 flights if possible. I think Finnair should offer a small savoury snack for free with the basic drinks and then you have the chance to pay extra for more substantial items.
Hi there, if I were flying to London I would’ve gone for the widebodies (because they are timed just right for transfers and is usually cheaper), but I’m flying to Manchester and that’s the only morning flight AY operate (with the other one departing in the afternoon).
I totally agree that Finnair should provide some free snacks as well to better compete with other European carriers, instead of seeming like a low cost carrier.
Finnair's narrowbody cabins are wholly unexciting, though they are less dense than some carriers so a bit more spacious.
Yeah, sadly this is more and ore becoming the norm in Europe...even the tiny snack is disappearing...Off the top of my head, Iberia and SAS also don't have snacks on short-haul (and Iberia don't even give a free drink like Finnair).
I do have some AY domestic flights around meal time next month, but made sure to pre-order some food knowing there's nothing at all on board. I found the prices to be decent...we'll see if the food is actually decent.
Thanks for sharing!
Might as well try to order some food if the prices sound right if I were flying with European carriers, just for the sake of curiosity!
Thanks for the comment and hope you have a sound flight with Finnair!
Unfortunately with today's market, you either got to fly AF or KL if you want complimentary food and drinks, yet the price tag they charge is usually a tad higher comparing them to AY or LH.
However I must admit that I'm not really get excited about the prospect of flying with AY, however they do a decent job on their longhaul routes (though nothing excited) and on regional routes they do give you some choice of beverage (though not much) unlike LH, SK or BA.
Thanks for the report though
Thanks for stopping by!
I've flown on BA earlier this year on LHR-EDI and EDI-LHR (check my flight report), I received a bottle of good old Harrogate water and a small snack, so it's not like absolutely nothing. But still, they encourage purchasing food on-spot or online so you get to spend extra.
Hope to try those out some time!
Thanks for the comment!