[Anonymous]

[FivestarFred]

A330-300 DEL-HEL 06 April 2015

This was my first time on Finnair.

I took a taxi from my hotel to Indira Gandhi International Airport which was a 45min drive from Maidens Hotel, North Delhi at 7am on a Monday morning without traffic. Dedicated check-in was swift and I could through check my bag to a domestic BA connection at Heathrow. I was accompanied to the dedicated immigration for first and business class and given an invitation to the Plaza Premium Lounge and directed how to get there.

The lounge is used by several airlines and is fairly large with limited views outside and none of the tarmac. There are three shower cubicles and two toilets. Food and drink offerings fairly small. Boarding announcements were made in the lounge and there is also a departure screen. Free wifi is available but slow and cuts out intermittently.

Boarding via a dedicated lane where boarding passes are scanned. There was a further passport check afterwards down the jet bridge just before boarding the aircraft. Separate jet bridge for business class. We pushed back 15mins late but landed on schedule.

On board we were welcomed and pointed to our seats. Coats were taken and offered a drink of champagne (Nicolas Feuillatte), water or juice. The glassware used is very distinctive frosted glass design. An amenity kit is at the seat and blankets in the overhead lockers.

The aircraft had the new seats which are similar to those used by Brussels Airlines, Austrian and KLM. Lots of shelf space on some of the individual seats though those are quite cramped in bed mode and claustrophobic. They are long enough if over 6ft tall but hard to manoeuvre into. Not all seats offer direct aisle access.

TV screens are small and entertainment options limited. Few movies, TV series, music and some games. The flight time was 6hrs 45mins. There’s a power socket and USB sockets at each seat. Electronic devices can be used in flight mode from boarding and throughout the flight till the aircraft gets to the gate.

Lunch was served after take off. You can pre-order meals online. Hot towels offered before each meal service. Today’s flight had a starter of prawns (or whatever you pre-ordered), three choices of main plus cheese and ice cream. Two white wines (Le Domaine D’Henri Chablis 2012 and Creation Viognier 2014) and two red wines (Schug Carneros Pinot Noir 2012 and Chateau Larose Perganson Haut-Médoc 2008) plus port and a dessert wine. 2hrs before landing a light meal was served and there were snacks throughout the flight. Crockery was also distinctive, created by Marimekko. The cabin crew were very attentive and regularly passed through the cabin offering refills and responding quickly to call buttons.

In summary, the flight was standard. No wow factor and if you don’t bring your own entertainment you may be bored as this was a daytime flight.

Transit at Helsinki Vantaa
After disembarking, transit passengers go through security and then into the main departure area. For non-Schengen flights Finnair has two lounges including the new premium lounge with a small Finnish Sauna. The premium lounge is small but nice, comfortable and light with some tarmac views. It was packed at 4pm with standing room only. Good selection of drinks and food.

There are several shower cubicles. The premium lounge is open to Oneworld emerald and sapphire only. If travelling business class with no status you have to use the adjacent basic lounge.

A320 HEL-LHR
There was a passport check at the gate and we were transported by bus to a remote stand. Pretty full flight though as in short haul business the middle seat is blocked off. All 14 available seats in business occupied on this flight. Newspapers were offered on boarding and menus distributed. Flight time 2hrs 20mins. 15min delay pushing back as we waited for one passenger who needed wheelchair assistance and was transported by the catering truck and lifted up to door 1R.

On the menu was a starter of salmon salad, main of poached cod and a banoffee mousse dessert. One each of champagne, red and white wine was available (all in mini bottles) plus spirits and soft drinks. Hot towels and a drink were offered before the meal.

Overhead TV screens showed the flight path and stats and air camera during take-off and landing plus documentaries during the flight. We landed 10mins late.

[mkcol74]

I’ve just done:
2/4/15 LHR-HEL
3/4/15 HEL-JFK-LAX
5/4/15 LAX-JFK-HEL-LHR
Flying AY & AA in J with exception of the HEL-JFK which was Y. My first time on AY in over 2 decades & considering them only:

Apart from 1 instance, I found them highly consistent with their service both at the gate & on board.

Boarding was calm, controlled, no crazy rush for space in overhead bins & each time was completed in a timely manner with all on board & doors closed well before departure time.

I was in the 1st row for the European flights so had plenty of room in front of me. I think I’d have been fine elsewhere in the business class cabin as I’m 5’10” & not especially wide, however I only had a Kindle to contend with not a laptop.

On the LHR-HEL sector tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tabs maybe?) were being handed out for IFE. I declined. This was one thing I noticed not repeated on the inbound. With a Kindle & lovely views it wasn’t something I was bothered by.

I felt the selection on the IFE for the HEL-JFK-HEL sectors was more than sufficient. I’m at the cinema on a weekly basis as a minimum yet I still managed to watch 3 films, and there were a couple of others I wanted to watch – plus plenty of others I wasn’t bothered by mainly due to language!
The music choice was wide & varied, as were the “magazines” on their e-reader. I didn’t spot any TV shows which rather surprised me.

Transit at HEL was easy – you arrive in the non-Schengen part of the terminal & you stay in that part to connect to your next flight, unless of course you’re connecting to a Schengen flight. So there was no need to clear security again – I just wandered along checking the duty free (noticed they don’t sell tobacco products in the airport or on board), then mooched into the Finnair Premium Lounge, managed not to stuff my face as had been amply fed in-flight, grabbed a shower, had a chat with the staff then wandered on back out to my next flight.

On my return I had a lot longer so took the opportunity to have a secluded, calm, nap in a darkened room of the same lounge – much appreciated. The staff member agreed to come wake me up well in advance of my final sector should I have got in too deep a slumber.

Both times I found the lounge to be….well….dead! No more than 10 passengers. This was between about 1200-1400 on Friday & 0900-1330 yesterday.

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