TRIP REPORT: Taking the Longer Way Home – Finnair AY1335 Helsinki to London Heathrow (Economy Class)

Finnair AY1335 Helsinki to London Heathrow (Economy Class)
Taking the Longer Way Home

In this trip

• So. Keeping it original for autumn, aren’t we?
• Off to Heathrow in the Dead of the Night
• Terminal 3 Lounges… And more delays
• American Airlines AA99 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin)
• In the USA, Candlewood Suites O’Hare
• TRAVEL PLUS: Fooding around Chicago
• Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• Airplane Art Extra – from the 10th Floor of the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• TRAVEL PLUS: The Art Institute, Chicago
• Back to O’Hare, Air France/KLM Lounge
• Finnair AY010 Chicago O’Hare to Helsinki Vantaa
• A Helsinki Layover
• Finnair AY1335 Helsinki Vantaa to London Heathrow
• Coaching Homewards
• Sometimes, it’s more the journey

AY1335 Helsinki Vantaa Airport to London Heathrow
Finnair, Airbus A319 
Seat 10A, Economy Pro 
10 Tier Points Earned, 284 Avios Earned + 568 Avios Tier Bonus

With the bus loaded and the doors closed, it was time for a tour of the Helsinki Airport ramp.

Finnair Airbus A350

Juneyao Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Finnair Long-haul birds.

Parked next to the A319

With the bus completing its short tour of Helsinki Airport, we were dropped off at the waiting Airbus A319.

I headed up the stairs where a child thought that the airstairs were a toy. We can all guess how that ended sadly.

I boarded the aircraft and was welcomed by the crew. Alas, the overhead bins were pretty full at this point – an unwelcome sight as I would be on the exit row.

IFE Controller

Business Class seating.

And the cabin was crammed full for this flight to London – with the 3rd bus loading out the aircraft.

Finnair uses the Recaro BL3510 in a tasteful grey fabric cover.

The seat – taken after landing.

We like this view sometimes.

Legroom. Note that Chicago Ornament is still with me. Even though it wanted to stay aboard the previous flight

The overhead panel. Yes. There are air vents.

Whilst leather might look premium, I’ve always preferred a fabric-covered seat for warmness. Leather/pLeather/eLeather leaves me rather cold.

And this cabin was warm thanks to the open door and the cold Finnish autumn blowing through it.

Eventually, the doors were closed, and the cabin buttoned down for departure.  The safety video played – which was similar to the wide-body safety video.

Safety card.

Ready to go.

The safety video played, and we were on our way around Helsinki Vantaa airport in the low sun, taxing for the runway.

Finnair A330 Marimekko Unikko

With a minimal delay, our AY1335 spooled its engines up and took to the sky.

With the aircraft in the air, there’s very little to none in terms of in-flight entertainment – there are drop-down screens that show the map and some occasional programming.

There is however inflight connectivity. Unlike the long haul aircraft, these are powered by the ViaSat Ka connectivity solution.

Pricing instead of per hour is per flight, with either a “Streaming” price or a “Browsing” Price. However, as I was still pretty tired from the previous flight, I chose not to connect to the internet.

Yes, people, this is a thing – and you can do it too. Sometimes having two hours disconnected from everything in the air is a refreshing thing to do.

With the aircraft at its flight level, the on-board service began. Whilst some airlines have gone completely buy on board, Finnair has chosen the happy medium path of providing some beverages free of charge, and charging for anything else.

Finnair Short-Haul Menu.

So if you’re cheap, you can get Tea, Coffee, Water or Blueberry juice free of charge. Anything else requires opening the wallet and ponying up.

I asked for a coffee and some water, and worked my way slowly through it, drifting off between sips.

I guess my body is happier sleeping upright than it is sleeping with all the space in the world.

The aircraft today took a route southwards that would go via Scandinavian nations, past Denmark, over to The Netherlands and finally across the North Sea – so this would have been good to know (as there’s a big ViaSat black hole over the North Sea)

You are here.

There was also a duty-free run, but very few takers from what I could see.

And between dozing, I looked out of the window… which had more than its fair share of ice build-up. Not covering the thing, but enough to make photography “more than a challenge”

With the aircraft crossing the Channel, the cabin was tidied up and secured.

The Channel

Soon enough, we crossed over Essex, and into the Lambourne Stack.

Now entering… the stack.

Father Thames.

Docklands, City Airport and East London. And whatever is south of the river.

Preparing to exit the stack

A few loops around the stack and we were allowed to exit, crossing North London, and over to Reading – for a loop back to Windsor and finally Heathrow Airport.

Turning for Heathrow

With ease, AY1335 landed at Heathrow Airport.

The aircraft turned off the runway, and taxied back to Terminal 3, passing an assortment of tails on the way… including a StormTrooper tail.

Interesting.

British Airways A320

Iran Air Airbus A330-200

American Airlines Boeing 787

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER

British Airways Boeing 747-400

The tracks lead here sir… 

The aircraft made its way to the inner part of Terminal 3, turning and docking at a Gate.

With the seatbelt sign released, the mass scramble to exit begun.

I took part – grabbing my strewn bags on the way and headed off the A319 to begin the trek through the airport – and finally to my front door.

Overall: Whilst the crew were not as warm as some Finnair services I’ve been aboard, they still delivered a good passenger experience on-board, with an offering that is well above some in Europe (yes, I’m looking at your British Airways). Combined with onboard connectivity, it makes a compelling offering.

Now if the airline could move away a bit from its buy-on-board model, there could be the makings of an interesting European oneworld offering.

Next: Coaching Homewards

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