Due to a lengthy spring vacation this year I decided to go to Switzerland. I’m actually a Swiss citizen (dual citizen) it’d been 4 years since I was there last, and my parents were there on vacation, so everything was perfect. On top of that, traveling in April on Finnair the ticket would cost me less than $1000. The flight would be Nagoya to Helsinki, then Helisinki to Zurich - prefect  

This was my first time flying Finnair. In 2002 and 2004 I flew to Switzerland on ANA and Lufthansa and while the service was good,I didn't like the way the flights were setup. I had to fly to Nartia first (I hate doing that) then Frankfurt, then Zurich. For some reason the return trip was Zurich to Frankfurt then straight to Nagoya  

  
1st leg
Nagoya Centrair to Helsinki-Vantaa
Dep: Nagoya Centrair - April 1st, 2008 11:00am
Arr: Helsinki Vantaa - April 1st, 2008 15:10pm
Finnair flight AY80
Economy, seat 42C (by request)
Airbus A340
Flight time: 9 hours, 55 minutes

On the morning of April 1st I woke up at 7:00, got ready and left the house with my wife who was on her way to work. Usually I take Tsubame Taxi’s airport limo shuttle, but this time I’d packed light (only a small suitcase and my backpack) so I decided to take the subway to Nagoya station, then the Meitetsu from there. The trip to the airport cost around ¥1000 (versus ¥2500 for the airport limo.)

The line at Centrair to check-in was thin so I was at the desk in no time. On a whim I asked if the flight was full. The desk clerk said no, so I asked if there were any emergency exit seats. She said there were so I ended up with seat 42C, which is an aisle seat slightly behind the wing on the left side. I also asked if there were any business class seats available but she said no. It never hurts to ask  

Security was quick and efficient (as it usually is at Centrair) though the were especially interested in all the film I brought with me - 20 rolls in total (no digital cameras and no laptop.) Immigration was quick and boarding soon began.

There was no delay in boarding and I was pleasantly surprised to find small bottles of water on all the seats. When I first sat down I noticed a lot of empty seats; rows 42, 43 and 44 were completely empty, however before takeoff a few Japanese seated further back noticed and took some of them. The crew was almost all Finnish except for 2 or 3 Japanese women. One thing I noticed was the Japanese FA who sat in front of me: she was completely emotionless and kept taking notes on some piece of paper. I’m used to the FAs on JAL who smile at everything and everyone.

Taking off from runway 36 we were soon up in the air climbing out. Maybe it was me, but the A340 seemed pretty quiet on take off. I was expecting a mighty roar but it was quite smooth. The climb out was slightly bumpy through the clouds and we seemed to be turning forever, but we were soon at cruising altitude and on our way.





Above is a photo of the aircraft interior. I wasn’t sure if it was new or old, but it was fine with me.

Drinks were soon served, with the first meal service afterwards. After reading Planehunters’s trip report (MUC To Nagoya: Finnair E170 & (Old) "New" A340) I was pessimistic about what kind of food we’d get. I was unpleasantly surprised: the first meal was pretty bad - as I only ate parts of it I didn’t take any photos.

The meal we had before landing however was really good and conversely I ate the whole thing before taking any photos - sorry

The IFE system was okay, but the screens really small (compared to what I’m used to on JAL 747s.) There were 6 (?) movies and some TV shows playing. The movies weren’t anything special (nothing I really wanted to see anyway) but the TV shows were funny: The Class, My Name is Earl, Back To You and some others. My only complaints about the IFE were the pause between movie ending and beginnings: when the movie ended I had to wait 10 or more minutes before it began again. In the meantime I’d switch to the channel showing the map, which leads to my other complaint ...



The map channel showed -BRIEFLY- our current position on a map every 5 or so minutes - but that’s it. No current airspeed, altitude, time to destination, no local time or time at destination or anything like that. Whenever I wanted to know where we were I had to stare at a blue screen with the Finnair logo until the map came up very briefly then vanished again. What’s with that?



Somewhere over Russia, on our way to Helsinki

The 10 hours went quicker than I thought, and before long we began our descent into Helsinki



After a smooth landing and no-so-long taxi I found myself for the first time in Helsinki. I only had slightly over an hour until my next flight so I went on to my gate.



This is the A340 that got me from Nagoya to Helsinki, as seen from the bus to my next flight.

  
2nd leg
Helsinki-Vantaa to Zurich Kloten
Dep: Helsinki - April 1st, 2008 16:30pm
Arr: Zurich - April 1st, 2008 18:15pm
Finnair flight AY863
Economy, seat ? (Sorry, I forgot, but it was right in front of the exit .. maybe row 10?)
Embraer 190
Flight time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

With only about 30 minutes until boarding, I sat in the departure area updating my travel journal on my iPaq. I noticed several business people on their laptops and people using cell phones. Despite going to Switzerland I heard no one speaking German or Swiss-German, only Finnish of which I can’t understand a word ...

Boarding began on time and we got onto the bus that headed out to our plane (the above photo of the A340 was taken from the bus - pretty lucky I guess.) In about 2 minutes we arrived at our next plane, an Embraer 190



Boarding flight AY863 (I was last if I remember correctly)



Another shot of the plane before I got in

We were all seated, the doors closed and the announcements given in Finnish, English and German. Taxi was short and take off was a powerful roll and quick lift off (reminding me of the Super 80s.) Climb out was uneventful and once above the clouds it was bright and sunny again.

Without IFE I quickly get bored on flights. I don’t like to read and I don’t sleep well on planes in general, so I end up staring out the windows and looking forward to meal times. The meal was some weird potato and something mix, with bread and water. “Uh-oh, this is going to suck too.” I though, but it was quite good and I ate the whole thing (I actually spilled some on the floor )


Here’s the meal. It looks kind of weird, but it was pretty good  



Ice crystals on the window - in flight Helsinki to Zurich

Before long we began our descent and made a smooth landing through the late afternoon haze at Zurich-Kloten.

One thing that like about the airport was the train we took to the baggage claim and exit areas. After the announcements you hear cow bells and mooing and kitchy Swiss things like that. The guy standing next to me and I got a good grin out of it. Yes it was kitch, but I hadn’t been back in 4 years and it was a good welcome.

I was only in Switzerland for 12 days, and for the most part the weather was pretty bad. The next day in Zurich it was raining, and as we got up into the mountains (Grindelwald, where I stayed) it was snowing.

You’ll find more photos here:
Switzerland, April 2008
Switzerland | Velvia 100
The Eiger

and a small slide show here

Switzerland April 2008


On April 12th, rested, relaxed and not really ready to go back (but I was out of film) it was time to head home ...

  
Return trip, 1st leg
Zurich to Helsinki
Dep: Zurich - April 12th, 2008 10:55am
Arr: Helsinki-Vantaa - April 12th, 2008 14:40pm
Finnair flight AY862
Economy, seat ? (Sorry, I forgot again)
Embraer 190
Flight time: 3 hours, 30 minutes (about)

I got to Zurich waaaay early just in case and seemed to be one of the first if not THE first person to check in. Again I asked if there were any aisle/exit row seats available. There weren’t, but he was able to get my aisle rows for ZRH > HEL and HEL > NGO which was good enough for me. I also asked if there was anything in business but he said no.

“Never hurts to ask, does it?” I said, grinning.
“No, it doesn’t.” He said smiling.

With suitcase checked all the way to Nagoya and boarding passes in hand, I walked around the airport with my dad. Maybe I’m spoiled from being used to all the things to do and see in Centrair (like shopping, a hot spring, etc, etc.) but Helsinki-Vantaa & Zurich-Kloten airport seemed pretty boring to me. I was put-off by having to pay for the observation deck (I'm used to them being free) so we just walked around at laughed at all the over-priced things in the stores.

On a side note, I noticed quite a few places selling APS film. I’ll admit I’ve been accused of being a troglodyte for switching from digital back to film, but APS? How many folks out there are still using that format? More power to you ...

I made my way through security (they didn’t care about my film) and on to the gate and plane by bus. AY862 (another Embraer 190) boarded on time with no delays and before long we were up and away. I was the first person on the plane! (Yeah, I should've taken a picture ... )

Breakfast was again a disappointment (no photos) and to top it off, the bread was so old it broke apart in my hands   Minus points for that. I was careful not to hit a window with it, I didn’t want to break one and cause sudden cabin depressurization  

Staring out the window for a so long I got so bored I actually fell asleep. Just as I woke up we were beginning our descent into Helsinki-Vantaa.



Approaching Helsinki

With a smooth descent and touch down we arrived at Helsinki.



  
Return trip, 2nd leg
Dep: Helsinki - April 12th, 2008 17:15pm
Arr: Nagoya Centrair - April 13th, 2008 08:55am
Finnair flight AY79
Economy, seat 44J (I think it was J)
Airbus A340
Flight time: 9 hours

Getting into the terminal at Helsinki I found myself really thirsty. With nothing but a credit card and Japanese Yen, I had to exchange some money. 10 Swiss Francs gave me 5 Euro   2 of which went to a bottle of water   I tried to drink the whole thing before getting on the plane only to find that there was no additional security check and I was able to carry a 1/2 empty bottle in my bag! That plus there were bottles of water on the seats again upon boarding.

Boarding was on time and AGAIN I found rows 43 and 44 completely empty. I moved up to row 43 and took the window seat on the right side of the plane. The announcements made and safety demo done we were off again, on our way to Nagoya.



Coming out of Helsinki, it was a little hazy but not too bad

The IFE movies were different this time (not really any better) but the TV shows were the SAME. Was it too much trouble to change them?



Another aircraft flying nearby (ISO 400 film isn't the best choice for sunny, out-the-window shots)

A few hours before landing the sun came up again:



The meal after take off was good, though I didn’t take any photos of it. The meal before landing was terrible and so I only took a few bites before leaving it. As we flew over Korea we had a bout of turbulence - food service stopped and the seatbelt sign came on.

I’ve always wondered how people can eat during turbulence. Mild turbulence I can understand, but when the plane is jiggling around I would think it’s the same as eating a meal on a bumpy cross-town bus, which I couldn’t/wouldn’t do either. After bumping around for about 15 minutes things calmed down and food service started again.

A few hours later we began our descent into Nagoya. From what I could tell we flew over Gifu and Mie prefectures before hooking a left over the bay and into Centrair. The sky was hazy and so my photos didn’t come out  

The worst part about coming back was Japan’s new immigration policy of fingerprinting and photographing all incoming foreigners. Despite living here for 8 years (paying my share of taxes the whole time) being the spouse of a Japanese national and not being a terrorist, I had to wait in line for a solid hour.
Customs was a breeze however (except the customs agent gave me back the customs slip by accident instead of my passport) and soon I was on the Meitetsu bound for Kanayama station and then home.

In conclusion I enjoyed my flights with Finnair. Going over I liked better because I arrived in Zurich in the evening. When I got there I got some dinner at the airport Migros and went to sleep almost as soon as I got to the hotel in Zurich. Coming back though, I got into Centrair at 9 in the morning, after a 9 hour flight, then stood in line for immigration for an hour, then spent another hour to get home. I was wired for the rest of the day and couldn’t sleep or I’d screw up my sleeping patterns.

The food I found to be fifty-fifty. On the international routes there were two meals: one was good and the other sucked. On the domestic flights the food was fifty-fifty as well: from Helsinki to Zurich it was good, from Zurich to Helsinki it sucked. For the past 8 years I’ve only flown JAL so I can only compare Finnair’s food to them and honestly JALs food has been better.

Service-wise, the crews on the flights were kind of fifty-fifty as well. On two flights they were very nice and friendly, one two others they just did their job but didn't smile much or talk.

The next time I go to Switzerland I will most definitely consider flying with Finnair again. Overall I liked the service, the food ... well, it didn't kill me and there weren't too many connections and long flights to worry about.

Thanks for reading, feel free to ask questions and/or comments (no death threats, please.)

TimePilot