Hello everyone, welcome to the new series from Munich to Hong Kong with Finnair. This report will cover the flight from Helsinki to Hong Kong.
Enchainement de vols
- 1
- 2AY99 - Helsinki -> Hong Kong
- 3
- 4
After arriving from Munich, I followed the signs and headed for the immigration. With my EU passport, I was through in no time. Helsinki airport is easy to navigate, my flight to Hong Kong would depart from gate 46. From gate 28 to immigration and then to gate 46 is basically a straight route. There were not too many flights departing from Helsinki at night with only 4 long-haul flights to Singapore, Hong Kong, Nagoya and Shanghai.
Most of the shops by that time had been closed, except for a few restaurants and duty free.
On my way to gate 46
At 22:26pm, I arrived at gate 46.
The gate design was very modern and very spacious.
There were just a few people at the waiting area in front of the gate, the whole area was very quiet. I sat at in front of the gate and had my phone charged.
At 22:39pm, my plane to Hong Kong arrived. Airbus A350-900, OH-LWK just arrived from London as AY1338. The plane was delivered to Finnair in June 2017. Finnair operates two different types of A350-900 with different seat configurations. One with 43J 24W 211M and the other with 30J 26W 265M. My flight to Hong Kong was with the latter one.
At 23:55pm, boarding was called. I was in boarding group 4. After scanning my boarding pass at the gate counter, we were in the next room waiting for boarding. The room divided the priority passengers and general economy passengers. After the priority group finished boarding, the door for the economy class opened. At the end it did not matter which group you are in, those who were closed to the door could be boarded faster.
My seat 58L in the rear economy section. Economy class is 3-3-3 configured. Blanket was placed already on the seat. Since 19th April 2023, pillows were no longer be provided in long haul economy class.
The seat selection for this flight costed 95,00 €, it was really expensive.
Economy class during boarding
Standard economy seat with row pitch 31 inches.
A bottle of water and earbuds were placed in the front pocket.
Finnair A320ceo, OH-LXM arrived from Edinburgh as AY1374.
Back of the economy seat. The 12 inches welcome screen showing the seat number. There was a USB-A port at the bottom side of the screen but unfortunately I only had a USB-C cable, I could not charge my phone. In addition there were also no power sockets underneath the chairs. Coat hook as far as I saw, was also not available.
Seat map of Finnair 321seats A350-900.
Once I pressed the continue button with the preferred language, it showed me the overview of the flight. This was new to me as it gave you not only the departure and arrival time but also the information by when dinner or breakfast would be served. It also mentioned when the cabin light would be dimmed.
I quickly went through the menu. Finnair does not provide any paper menu, but the information could be found in the screen.
The forward camera.
The downward camera.
At 0:16am, boarding was completed. There was a lady from Hong Kong sitting next to me in the middle seat. 5 minutes later, our purser came on PA and informed the flight time of 11 hours and 40 minutes.
At 0:34am, the next announcement from the flight deck that one cargo door was still opened and we should be ready to go in 10 minutes.
At 0:45am, pushed back was initiated and safety demonstration video was played. A few minutes later, cabin light was dimmed.
At 0:56am, we took off from the runway.
Seconds after takeoff.
7 minutes after takeoff, cabin light was turned on. A few minutes later, I started watching the first movie of the flight, Shang-Chi and the legend of the Ten Rings.
At 1:53am, dinner was served. There was only one choice. I had an apple juice for the drink. The presentation was not that nice with the food packed in the cardboard. But passengers can have to option to pre-order the food in advance.
After the meal service, cabin light was dimmed at 2:27am. about 20 minutes later I fell asleep. I woke up about 4 hours and 45 minutes later.
I went through the menu and ordered a blue berry juice. This idea of ordering with the screen was quite good, especially for those like me who had the window seat.
25 minutes later, the crew brought me the juice, which was to me taking too much time.
At 8:14am, I finished the first movie and i checked the flight map and we were flying over Taklamakan Desert.
I few minutes later, I watched another movie, One Battle After Another.
45 minutes into the movie, I fell asleep again, but just for 20 minutes I woke up again and the cabin light was turned on again. Then I visited the toilet at the back.
The economy class cabin with mood-lighting.
At 10:00am brunch was served. There were two choices and I decided to go with the omelette. Together on the tray there was a bread, mousse and a chocolate bar.
Wooden cutlery.
I had a coffee with milk for the drink.
At 11:27am, I finished the movie and we are about 1 hour to Hong Kong.
At 11:56am, the announcement from flight deck that the descend had already commenced and about 30 minutes to landing.
speed brake applied. We were heading into South China Sea and made a U-turn into Hong Kong airport.
Winglet of Finnair A350-900.
Jiapeng Liedao.
Passing by Guishan Island, belongs to Xiangzhou District of Guangdong Province.
Turning right and aligned on the runway.
Seconds before touchdown.
At local time 17:30pm, We touched down on Hong Kong international Airport. Total flight time was 11 hours and 34 minutes.
Passing by Lufthansa B787-9 in 100 years livery.
We reached the parking gate 31 in terminal 1.
Total flight route. Due to the on-going Russo-Ukrainian war, Finnair Asia business model was mostly affected as it cannot fly over Russia airspace anymore. Therefore after departing from Helsinki, we headed south and passed through the East Europe into the Black sea. This detour increased at least 2 hours of flight. Before it just took around 9 hours to Hong Kong, and now it is over 11 hours.
Thanks for reading!
