AY1337 – Helsinki Airport to London Heathrow Terminal 3
Doing it for the Tier Points
- And once again, welcome to the Tier Point Enrichment Centre
- What can you do with about three hours and a bit of sleep? (Coach, Heathrow Airport and Lounge)
- Finnair AY1332 London Heathrow to Helsinki (Business Class/A350)
- Planes, Trains, Boats and Trams – Into Helsinki and slightly beyond
- Crowne Plaza Helsinki
- A Morning walk around Helsinki
- Back to Vantaa, Finnair Non-Schengen Lounge
- Finnair AY1337 Helsinki to London Heathrow (Business Class/A350)
- Heathrow wows, Euston moans, and Rugby looks pretty
- 320 Tier Points, Done
Finnair, 1A, Business Class
80 Tier Points Earned, 2,260 Avios Earned
I was welcomed aboard the waiting Airbus A350 and turned left again.
I like this style of shot.
Here we go…
Door time.
This turning left malarky is fun. Sadly, I had struck out again and had the old Safran (Zodiac) Cirrus seats.
Ah. The Safran/Zodiac interior.
You would have thought four random segments might have yielded just one hit of the new Collins Aerospace AirLounge – but it seems that was not going to be reviewed this trip.
Sorry people – I tried and I am also out of bargain fares to test against (although there was a Dubai fare that looked tasty in the future).
Nonetheless, The Cirrus is a nice seat – one I am happy to fly in for an extended period. It just would have been nice to try this much-vaunted seat in a medium-haul setting.
Settling in, as usual, a water bottle and headphones were waiting for me.
The crew were in a chatty mood, ensuring that people were setting in for the flight. Again – we would be heading out pretty full, with only one seat left in the business class cabin.
With everyone aboard, the A350 has an on-time departure.
Jetbridge away!
And off we go.
The crew ran the safety demonstration – again it was video screen delivered, with the crew pointing at exits and the emergency path lighting.
Safety Card
Our aircraft took a route that passed the maintenance and deicing pads as it headed to the runway.
Peering in the hangers
With that, our A350 took the sky.
Our aircraft turned past Helsinki Airport during its climb, as it began to make its way to London.
See you again sometime, Helsinki.
With the aircraft in the air, the Wi-Fi system was turned on. We all know what that means by now. The Aperture Science Bandwidth and Stability Laboratory is now open for business.
Off we go
Connectivity over this Panasonic system was as expected. It’s interesting that Finnair chose to put its own splash pages on this product, rather than use a Panasonic-based system.
On the plus side, it allows them to take payment in alternative currencies – be it points or AliPay.
Performance was as expected – with the use blocks put in place (thus, no streaming tests even though the system is capable of it).
On the plus side, by the time I had done my tests, the crew were out and about conducting the hot towel and first drink service.
It’s nice to see this crew go through the full-service motions here, rather than trying to combine the service – when there is adequate time for full-service delivery.
The lunch service soon followed. This comprised of braised beef with a deconstructed potato thin, with green beans.
On the side, there was some salmon. I selected rye bread as a nice texture option.
Those with eyes will note that I also selected some bubbles too.
The meal provided was pretty filling and well portioned, with the sauce supporting the beef well, whilst the salmon starter was light, but not fishy.
No dessert was provided on the tray – although I did notice a few sneak out later to passengers who requested them.
What did I say about consistency in service?
I skipped on the IFE and spent time looking out of the window as the aircraft made its way from Helsinki to London.
Not exciting – which for a long-haul flight could be concerning.
Exciting.
The crew conducted a duty-free service. I might have taken part in it for once – least of all I wanted some new socks.
So what is the small room like aboard an A350 in business class? I thought you’d never ask.
It remains small. But there’s a window to watch the world go by as you go.
The aircraft made good progress and time as it continued toward England’s parched and pleasant land.
With London looming large, the aircraft was cleared down for arrival.
The aircraft was routed north of the city, with use due to arrive from the west. But it gives us a view of the city – which is always nice to see.
The flight path took us past Heathrow – a fun enough sight if you have never seen the airport from the air.
The conditions were dry enough to see the outlines of other airfields too.
With ease, the aircraft turned for Windsor and its target of the Heathrow complex.
Windsor Castle from the Air
Landing at Heathrow, I was honestly expecting the worst after the previous arrivals I’ve had this year – be it parked on a taxiway, parked between two terminals or parked on a penalty spot.
Again, we were early to Heathrow, as we taxied off runway 9L. But we kept taxing, past the maintenance hangers that British Airways and Virgin had.
We kept going, turning right past new and old at the British Airways hangers.
New and old.
And again, we continued our way past Terminal 2. All of a sudden, the aircraft started turning right – by some strange means, our aircraft had been allocated a gate at Heathrow Terminal -without the need for a wait at all.
To quote Anakin Skywalker “THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE”
We had been assigned Gate Number one – on the far end of the pier capable of handling the A380 at Heathrow but for the first time this year that I have been through the hub – we arrived at a gate early.
Even the cabin crew were shocked at how quickly we were assigned a gate at Terminal 3, with them noting that on some recent flights, they had to wait for a gate.
At this point, I thought my luck was going to break and that we would be waiting for a jetbridge driver – but no, after the engines powered down and the luggage hatches opened, the jetbridge approached and docked onto the aircraft.
To the surprise of everyone, the door opened.
With that, I thanked the cabin crew and made my way off the aircraft – mainly in disbelief we had been handled quickly for an arrival.
Overall: A step up on the outbound segment, although I would have loved to see a constancy in service that I had seen on my previous flights.
The catering is something that needs a pause for thought, whilst a great meat lovers meal – those who have other diets must ensure they book in advance to get them. I do get the idea of loading only one set of meals reduces waste and costs – but there needs to be a happy middle ground, that does not involve pre-reserving meals.
Next: Heathrow wows, Euston moans, and Rugby looks pretty.
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