TRIP REPORT: Finnair AY099 Helsinki to Hong Kong (BUSINESS CLASS) – Taking the long way to Singapore

AY099 Helsinki Vantaa Airport to Hong Kong International Airport (BUSINESS CLASS)
Taking the long way (and back) to Singapore

Onto one of the big pieces for this trip – me trying out Finnair’s AirLounge Seats by Collins Aerospace. Does the non-reclining business class seat work? Can your writer get more than a few minutes of sleep on it? And what about the rest of the passenger experience? 

In this adventure

• I needed a break
• 02:40 on the coach? Nothing changes, with Heathrow Terminal 5 and British Airways South Lounge
• BA776 London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda (Club Europe)
• An afternoon in Stockholm featuring ABBA The Museum 
• Off to Stockholm Bromma, AY840 Stockholm Bromma to Helsinki Vantaa with NoRRA (Economy Class)
• A Rapid Helsinki Transit and The Finnair Lounge
• AY099 Helsinki Vantaa to Hong Kong International with Finnair (Business Class)
• Transiting Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Lounge
• CX715 (AY5855) Hong Kong International to Singapore Changi Terminal 4 with Cathay Pacific (Business Class)
• Into Singapore, IBIS Budget Crystal
• The Mercure Hotel, Bugis
• Boating around the Singapore River
• Exploring Hawker Markets and random fooding around Singapore
• The Best Camera is the One You Have With You – Exploring The Gardens by the Bay
• Up to the Marina Bay Sands Skypark…
• …and the fallout of a stolen and returned iPhone
• Back to Changi Airport the Pokemon Centre at the Jewel and Terminal 4
• 3K513 (AY6379) Singapore Changi to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Jetstar Asia Economy Class)
• One night in Bangkok and the Avagard Capsule Hotel, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
• An early morning at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and The Miracle Lounge, D Pier
• AY142 Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Helsinki Vantaa with Finnair in Business Class
• Out of Vantaa Airport and into Helsinki… and a little beyond
• Holiday Inn, Helsinki Airport
• Early morning at Helsinki Vantaa Airport and The Finnair Schengen Lounge
• AY841 Helsinki Vantaa to Stockholm Bromma with NoRRA (Economy Class)
• The slow return to Arlanda Airport (with a military band)
• D84459 Stockholm Arlanda to London Gatwick with Norweigan Air Shuttle
• How to get home… coach or train?
• Sometimes, Simple Isn’t Needed… Or Wanted

AY099 Helsinki Vantaa Airport to Hong Kong International Airport
Finnair, Airbus A350-900
Seat 12A, Business Class
4,859 Miles flown. 140 Tier Points Earned, Avios earned 

Boarding the A350-900 I was welcomed aboard and headed to my seat in the last row of business class. This is in the mini business class cabin. Whilst a little more intimate than the main business class cabin, it does suffer from pre-take-off footfall

Not the preferred place to be, but at least it’s still a window seat. And as you all know, I’ve long been a window seat or bust person. 

The boarding mele. 

Whilst I wasn’t shocked, I was happy to find that this aircraft (as well as the rest of the Finnair Long-haul fleet has the Collins Aerospace AirLounge seat installed. 

This is a seat I’ve covered on this blog a fair bit – as well as talking about it with both the airline and its suppliers. 

Whilst it doesn’t have a door it does have the impression of a great amount of privacy – certainly the walls on the seat are high enough when fully flat, or when sat down, you are pretty much in your own little bubble. 

Shoulder belt

 

 

 

At the seat, there was a menu card, amenity kit and slippers. There also is a mattress and a blanket for that seat. 

 
Menu 

Buried to the side and in the seat are the headphones. Of course, there’s the big IFE screen from Panasonic front and centre too. 

On the seat, there was also a pair of pillows/cushions. All very pleasant. 

The seat featured an inductive charging pad, where you can charge phones or Bluetooth earbuds. However, it does suffer from a lot of “hidden” wireless charging points – finding the charging coil first.  That’s a challenge in itself.

And you can spend far too long finding it – here’s the old iPhone 14 Pro 

Buried in the flap of the seat were outlets for audio, USB-A and USB-C.

 

There’s also a classic remote control for those who don’t do touchscreens.

However, the person who thought the power outlet should be on the floor needs to rethink where to install things.

… really? Is this the best place you could find for a mains outlet? 

As boarding continued, a drinks service followed. And yes, I went with the only drink that was suitable. 

Interestingly, the use of the classic Iittala Ultima Thule glassware was limited to this pre-take-off drink, with the airline choosing to go to the more normal glasses afterwards.

Boarding ran a little late, but eventually, the aircraft was buttoned up for departure.

After stowing my bags – interesting to note that at the front of the aircraft, the centre overhead bins had been removed, whilst in the back part, the overhead bins remained, I settled in. 

This felt… nice – that’s the first thing that came to mind. 

With everything readied for departure, the aircraft pushed back and the safety video played. Again, it’s a typical “not shot on an aircraft by we’ll use the same seats and such” video.

I did note that they made a specific note to not take items in an emergency evacuation scenario. Something that we’ve seen too often in emergencies.

Soon enough the A350 was making a taxi around Vantaa airport. With a roar, the Rolls Royce engines came to life and we were propelled into the sky.

 

 

Cabin during climb and initial cruise 

With the aircraft in the sky, I had choices – one was to stay awake and work the wifi, or the other option was to hit the IFE system. Given I would only have one hour of free wifi in business class (and I’m sure as heck not paying for wifi on a night flight), IFE won.

And this IFE scored an instant win out of the park for me – with 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Big Bang Theory loaded on it. This is the sort of low-level entertainment I need for a night flight (or a day flight for that matter).

Do do do doo do do.

Amazing. They have Howard Johnsons and Bell System communications in space. 

As this was primarily a night flight, the first meal service arrived on a tray. The main feature on this tray was the beef burgundy with rice and vegetables. This was accompanied by a salad, a fruit plate and a chocolate moose with a berry compote.

The tray

Beef Burgundy with Rice

Fruit – Blueberries, Melon and Pineapple 

A choice of breads was offered. I went a little Finnish and went for the rye bread.

v
Rye bread and a roll. 

Cola and water. 

Chocolate Mousse with Compote.

The Beef Burgundy with Rice wasn’t that large – but given I had filled a big hole in the lounge, it was about the right size for a pre-sleep snack. As for the feta salad, it was fresh and crunchy.

The rye bread was deliciously dense (and perfect for mopping up juices with).

The fruit plate was a little uninspired – I guess I’ve seen far too many melon slices in the sky, whilst the chocolate moose was delicious and rich.

With that, it was time to play with the seat to get it into bed mode. While the seat doesn’t recline, there are two mechanisms which help you have a flat surface – one is controlled by the seat controls, and the other one is a little more manual. With these two in place, you have a flat surface to sleep on, which extends under the screen and deep down below.

A blanket and a mattress topper are provided – I tended to use the blanket as this was a help-yourself service (no turn-down service offered).

I got a good 6 hours on the bed – I’ll be honest. That’s better than most nights of sleep I have these days.

When I woke up, the crew noticed and asked if I wanted anything. Well, I was a little thirsty. I think you all know what comes next.

There’s a reason why some of us call Finnar “GinAir”. 

A fruit service was offered – with the crew using a glass to put the fruit in.

I dozed off again, waking up, sipping on gin, then zoning out again.  There was also a help-yourself/crew assist station if you needed some mid-flight snacks.

Eventually, the lights came up for the breakfast service to begin. Now, I expected this to be a more formal affair – but again, Finnair went for the all-in-one tray approach.

Breakfast and a big bang. 

On short haul or last thing at night – it’s fine. But on long-haul flights when you have time to complete a service like this… it comes off as a little cheap.

On the tray, we have yoghurt, a Finnish Air-dried ham with walnuts and feta cheese, another bowl with melon in it and salmon, scrambled eggs and potatoes as a hot dish.

Well, it was breakfast for me after all at this point. The Finnish Meat Pie, I might have sprung for, but this seemed a lighter option.

I think this blog knows my feelings on yoghurt, so we’ll pass straight on the ham and feta, with the cheese giving a creamy tass, whilst the ham was delicious and had that lovely bit of salt on it.

The melon bowl was… melony. I do wish airlines tried other fruits though

For the main, I chose -the salmon was nicely done, whilst the scrambled egg and hollandaise sauce added a nice dimension to it, along with the asparagus tip that was added. Even the tomatoes were a little juicy.

To finish, the crew brought some coffee along, with some Fazer chocolates.

Passing through some rather stacked clouds, the Airbus A350-900 vectored into Hong Kong International Airport, as it started its descent for Hong Kong.

At this point, a Finnair safety announcement was made.

With ease, the Airbus A350 lined up and landed at the Fragrant Harbour, marking the first time I’ve been back here since the protests and pandemic.

Taxing off the runway, there was plenty to see as the aircraft headed towards the main terminal.

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A320

Another aircraft in the distance coming in.

Spring Airline Boeing 737-800

Guarda Indonesia Airbus A330 

Sichuan Airlines Airbus A321

With the engines shutting down, it was time to gather my items and leave my cosy cocoon in the sky. I had a three-hour-plus transfer – so hopefully, I could spend my time enjoying it – rather than rushing around.

We’ll see how that goes as they say.

With items in hand,  a jetbridge was connected to the aircraft. It was time to disembark, with us exiting through the front exit of the aircraft.

Overall

If there’s a star to this fight, the Collins Aerospace AirLounge seat is it. Whilst it’s not a traditional recline-to -bed seat, there are plenty of ways to get comfortable in it (be it seated, lying down, lotus seating, etc) so you can relax, work or sleep through the flight.

These days, I consider getting more than 6 hours of sleep a good sleeping seat on a flight – and this seat delivered in that way for me. There are some questionable choices however (the manual mechanism that fills in between the seat and the front part, as well as putting the mains outlet on the floor – but I can forgive these to a point.

As for the inflight service – not too bad, with it well delivered by a friendly crew. But even in business class, Finnair’s cost-cutting measures can be seen (such as a minimally stocked back galley for nibbles, services delivered in one tray, or even the restriction of the use of certain glassware.

It’s little things that can raise an eyebrow sometimes.

But otherwise, a solid flight.

Next

A Hong Kong Transfer – or where the hell is the transit desk?