Because I was very tired and sleepy, I didn't write down so much about this flight. However, I can provide you some quick facts and pictures. So maybe this is still useful to some of you!
Flight
Airline: Finnair (AY)
Aircraft: Airbus A340-300
Flight: AY 067
Registration: unknown
Route: HEL-HKG
Seat: 26A (economy / window seat)
Date: january 30, 2009.
Departure time: 04.20 pm (actual: 04.29)
Departure gate: 31
Arrival time: 07.59 am (actual 08.05)
Arrival gate: unknown
LF: 85-90% in Y
* seating: 2 - 4 - 2
* Large IFE screens with a great amount of movies to watch! Very modern looking system. I watched The Simpsons, Family Guy and Planet of the Apes (movie)
* It's true what people say about the A340-300: It's a slow climber (didn't time it though, but you can just experience this when taking off)
* Another fact: it's also a very silent aircraft!
* Dinner: chicken with rice and curry sauce. Just an average meal. I was not hungry anymore but still had some free space
* We had (noisy) babies on board
* We left Russian airspace and entered Mongolia above the city of Ulaangom. Altitude 11125m, temperature: -67 degrees Celsius, speed 863 km/h, tailwind 107 km/h.
* Breakfast was served while flying above Chengdu, China: spinach recotta crepe (very good!), some cake, thea. This meal was (imho) rather small.
* Smooth landing in HKG at runway 7L
* Immigration officers checked passports as soon as we got off the flight. (that's new to me)
Some pictures:
Conclusion:
Although a tad too small, I enjoyed the meals.The IFE is excellent!. This was my first time on Finnair and I can definitely recommend it to others. I had never been to HEL before and this was only my second flight on the A340. So that makes it a bit special as well.
However, I think I still prefer Air New Zealand or British Airways over Finnair when traveling to HKG. But then there's bloody LHR again...
Semsem From Israel, joined Jul 2005, 1769 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (9 months 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 7650 times:
LHR BA to BA is much better now that BA is in Terminal 5. Only thing I do not like is the 31" legroom and the low mileage credit on discounted tickets.
Flanders From Belgium, joined Oct 2008, 85 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (9 months 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 7573 times:
Quoting Semsem (Reply 1): LHR BA to BA is much better now that BA is in Terminal 5. Only thing I do not like is the 31" legroom and the low mileage credit on discounted tickets.
Yeah, I guess you are right! Flew BA on HKG-LHR-BRU a week ago and didn't experience any troubles then. Arriving and departing from Terminal 5 is very convenient. But I guess you still have to change terminals when you have to connect between NZ and BD?
Andaman From Finland, joined Oct 2005, 2726 posts, RR: 6 Reply 3, posted (9 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 6903 times:
Thanks for the Trip Facts! ,)
Quoting Flanders (Thread starter): * Large IFE screens with a great amount of movies to watch! Very modern looking system
I like their new AVOD too, nice large touch screen. And it's cool to be able to send text messages.
I flew HEL-HKG on AY last October, it was a good experience. The meals were nothing special though and a couple of drunk Russians pax were annoying, but the crew handled them well.
The nice Finnish-Chinese crew kept us well hydrated.
Chinese cookie in SFO: "You're doomed to a life of forever travelling abroad and to be able to afford it!"
Lufthansa747 From Finland, joined May 1999, 2956 posts, RR: 47 Reply 4, posted (9 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 6863 times:
Decent report.
Sorry to say the IFE (Panasonic ex2) is a complete joke in AY config - it can take 200ish movies and AY has about 20. Just CHEAP. Ridiculous. I'm sick to see this joke on HEL-ICN always.
Andaman From Finland, joined Oct 2005, 2726 posts, RR: 6 Reply 5, posted (9 months 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 6734 times:
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Reply 4): it can take 200ish movies and AY has about 20. Just CHEAP.
Well I'm fine with 20 movies, flying AY long hauls 1-2 times per year. I just wish they had more music choices, but AY not alone here, noticed the same on BA 747 when flying LHR-HKG.
Chinese cookie in SFO: "You're doomed to a life of forever travelling abroad and to be able to afford it!"
Andaman From Finland, joined Oct 2005, 2726 posts, RR: 6 Reply 8, posted (9 months 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 6225 times:
Quoting ELAL772 (Reply 7): "Tervetuloa Lennolle": What other European Language is similar to Finnish?
Looks pretty confusing Wow!
Yes Finnish may look a kinky language And for an example, the grammar doesn't separate sexes, has 15 cases and other oddities... Finnish belong to the same small family of languages with Estonian and Hungarian.
The second language on the screen is Swedish, the second official in Finland.
Chinese cookie in SFO: "You're doomed to a life of forever travelling abroad and to be able to afford it!"
Flanders From Belgium, joined Oct 2008, 85 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (9 months 11 hours ago) and read 5126 times:
Quoting ELAL772 (Reply 7): Were you disappointed you didn't get to fly on the MD-11?
Well, HEL-BKK (which is served by the MD-11) would have cost me as much as HEL-HKG on AY and HKG-BKK on UL together. So I chose the second option. The MD-11 is still on my to-do list of course. I wonder if the interior and the IFE is as modern as in the A340?
Andaman From Finland, joined Oct 2005, 2726 posts, RR: 6 Reply 14, posted (9 months 5 hours ago) and read 4801 times:
Quoting Flanders (Reply 12): The MD-11 is still on my to-do list of course. I wonder if the interior and the IFE is as modern as in the A340?
AY's MD-11s have old cabins, no personal IFE.
They are being replaced by A333, the HEL-JFK route will be the first to get A333 in coming April and HEL-BKK (2x daily in winter) the last early next year.
Chinese cookie in SFO: "You're doomed to a life of forever travelling abroad and to be able to afford it!"
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And for an example, the grammar doesn't separate sexes, has 15 cases and other oddities... Finnish belong to the same small family of languages with Estonian and Hungarian.
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