Disappear into Finnair (Finnair)

Member Name: non_sense

Product:	Finnair
Date:	20/11/08 (428 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: New aircraft with on demand entertainment

Disadvantages: A stop in Helsinki for long haul trips

I'd never flown with Finnair before, but recently they've been strongly advertising their fares to Asia and they are actually cheaper most of the time than other airlines. The only disadvantage is that you have to stop off in Helsinki, but that's fine with me if the airline is decent and it saves me some money. My trip took me from Amsterdam to Seoul and back.

The Airline
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Finnair are Finland's main airline, based at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. Founded in 1923 they are currently majority owned by the Finnish government. They are a member of the Oneworld alliance.

Booking
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With Finnair being a major scheduled airline you can find them on all the usual online booking sites and they can of course be booked via a travel agent. I found that the cheapest way to book with them was directly via their website (this is not always the case with scheduled airlines). The booking process was simple enough. You get a decent baggage allowance (20kg) for no extra charge.

Checkin
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Finnair allow you to check in and pick your seats for you flight online 36 hours in advance, you're able to print your boarding pass but if you are without a printer then you can ask for it when you get to the airport. On my outbound flight I was able to check in both sectors, but on the return I was only able to check in for the first sector. At the airport I was given a boarding pass for my connecting flight as I boarded the plane. There was no requirement for me to check in at Helsinki. At the baggage drop in Amsterdam and Seoul I didn't have to queue for long, bags were checked all the way through.

Airport
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Helsinki airport is modern, but not very big. There are plenty of shops selling duty free and Finnish merchandise. If you arrive from the UK you'll be arriving into the international area, on my trip I arrived into the Schengen area and had to go through passport control to reach the international area. It doesn't take long to pass between the two.
On arrival from Seoul we had to pass through a security screening again, as this was our entry point to the EU.

Onboard
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The aircraft were pleasant enough. I was only flying in economy but the seats were pretty much as you would expect. Knees weren't quite hitting the back of the seat in front. Unlike some airlines (BA for instance) the seats are designed so that anyone sat behind you messing in their seat pocket or little kids kicking the seat won't be prodding or kicking you in the spine, such a simple thing to do to have the seat designed this way, why doesn't every airline do it!
The European sectors were on A320 aircraft, they seemed clean and quite new. The intercontinental sectors were on A340's, very new and spotlessly clean cabin. Everything looks newly fitted.
I liked the way that they made use of the cameras on the outside of the plane for take off and landing so that you could watch the take off and approach on the screen, not every airline bothers with this and it's much more interesting than just looking out the window (and a bit nicer to your neck).
Flight information was shown on the cabin screens on every flight.

Entertainment
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Entertainment within Europe was whatever you brought on board with you, but on the intercontinental service it was on-demand with recent and classic movies, TV shows, games and some music available. I didn't run out of stuff to watch. The screens in the back of the seat were a good size (9 inches I believe but could be wrong). If you're planning to bring your own headphones they operate a system that requires 2 connectors, so standard headphones won't work without an adapter. They do provide free earphones.

Food
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There was a hot meal on the European sectors, an increasingly rare thing these days.
On the intercontinental sector there was a choice of Korean or European meal shortly after take off, followed by another meal 2 hours before arrival. The meals were not spectacular, the usual chicken with rice or pasta and a strange sauce, small salad, bread roll and if you're lucky a small chocolate bar too. We were also provided with metal cutlery, another rare sight in economy. In between the meals the crew regularly walked through the cabin with water and juice. Tea and coffee were served in conjunction with the meals. Small sandwiches were also available if you got hungry between meals.

Cabin Crew
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I was very happy with the cabin crew on the flights, they seemed very helpful and with the regular drinks round you didn't feel abandoned in between the meals. When one of the crew spilled a small amount of orange juice on a passengers shirt he was rewarded with a very sincere apology and a duty free voucher.

In conclusion I'd be very happy to fly with Finnair within Europe or beyond. The inconvenience of stopping in Helsinki for a long haul flight may push me towards other airlines flying direct, all depending on the price difference.

[review also posted on ciao]

Summary: If they're cheaper then they're worth a try!