[Anonymous]

[Binman62]

There are some astounding deals on AY to Asia at present and I wondered what the views were on this carrier and HEL airport. I understand they have 2 types of seat, one flat and one slide. Are the better at scheduling these on specific routes or is it al down to luck.when is the refurb due to end and what is onboard service like.
Keen to use as they are Oneworld and the fares a fraction of BA and others. Even if service was mediocre they costs difference is such that it would justify using them, particularly as it will be leisure travel.

[Gin&Tonic]

My wife, I and family use AY lots from the UK – Hkg.
They have good timings on the feeder flights to Hel for the Asia long hauls. So minimum waiting time on the transfer out, back it’s a little longer but they have an adequate lounge at Hel.

Hel must be the easiest airport to use, T2 small no fuss, no navigations issues in it.
The business seat is hit and miss with more angled than flat, but having such a short flight time from Hel into Asia means it’s more bearable than some of the angled products.

The inflight service is OK, not the best and not the worst, but as they are all night flights a quick dinner is at best what most people are looking for. I can’t rave about the food and wine, but it’s mostly ok served by a friendly cabin crew.

For my destination in the UK it offers one of the fastest transit times as I always have to have a transfer involved.
So it’s fast comfortable and economical, ticks all of my boxes.

[Senator]

Binman62, I have not sampled it myself yet, but AY fares are very good from most European starting points. For example, BKK is offered from ARN/GOT/OSL/BGO/CPH for roughly £1300 return. This is not a sales price, but normal offer with some restrictions.

There are four A330-300s with their newest hardware. This is the same seat offered by Swiss on their long-haul fleet; it is also used by Brussels Airlines, BMI on their mid-haul A321s, and starting in November, Austrian airlines.

To my knowledge, the A330-300s are featured on the JFK and BKK mostly, and then rotating among the rest of the A330 destinations.

You earn quite a bit of Tier Points through HEL from the UK, but no Tier bonus on BA EC.

[Londonian]

I flew them from LHR to BKK earlier in the year on the A330 with the lie flat seat. The connection at Helsinki – Vantaa was incredibly simple and the Finnair lounge is very good. I enjoyed the service and the food in both directions. The inflight entertainment was not so great. I probably would have been less happy had I not had the lie flat seat. The tier points were a good bonus and pushed me straight up to silver status for the following year on BAEC. I would use them again if the need came up and the fares quoted above seem incredible value.

[FrequentTraveller]

I have also been attempted to try Finnair. When researching a potential journey from London Heathrow to Asia via Helsinki, Finnair’s web site listed flights with a 45 minute connection time at Helsinki. Based on experience of other airports that seemed a bit too close for comfort. Has anybody made such a short connection at Helsinki with hold luggage and their luggage reached their final destination on the same flight?

[first_class_please]

Bangkok and New York are the only two routes with the fully flat product 100% of the time. All others are pretty low percentages.

http://www.ftdashboard.net shows the utilisation.

I have never used them, but a friend flies them all them time to Far East as they have quickest flight times from his local airport and cheaper than all other options also.

[MartynSinclair]

I used to use Finnair quite a bit. Always had the flat seat which was very comfy. The main moan was the extremely slow meal service and the cabin lights being kept on full brightness and not being dimmend for the first half of a night flight.

[LuganoPirate]

What is the flight time from HEL – HKG or BKK? I prefer shorter flights.

[MartynSinclair]

LP the flights are shorter to BKK, in the main, because you are starting slightly nearer to the destination. Alas, you have to get to HEL first!!!

One of the other advantages to BKK is the Finnair flight arrives earlier in the afternoon and before the “rush hour”.

[Binman62]

Thanks for the comments. It would seem that you get what you pay for and that BKK is the best route currently.

Anyone know when the rool out of flat beds will be complete?

[LuganoPirate]

Thanks Martyn, from Lugano Swiss is probably the best option in terms of flying hours?

[Author]

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