A journey to Helsinki on Finnair
When looking at a map, Helsinki doesn’t feel or look that far away - but a combination of a 2 hour time difference to the UK and almost three hour flight show how far it really is! Thus it is important to try and make the most of the time in this Nordic paradise with a longer European flight and only a few days in the country. We arrived bright and early to London Heathrow Terminal 3, home to Oneworld carriers, Virgin Atlantic, Delta and a few others like PAL. When travelling in Economy Class, Terminal 3 is perhaps the worst experience for passengers - low ceilings, little natural light and extremely busy all the time with few seats. For Business and First when travelling on Oneworld it is perhaps the best however, with options ranging from the Cathay Pacific to Qantas Lounges - making up for the poor experience elsewhere in the building. Unfortunately, however, I didn’t have access to either of these - so no Cathay Pacific Dan Dan Noodles for me!
Thanks to the early departure time of 07h30, we managed to nab a spot at Pret A Manger for a lacklustre pastry and coffee. Certainly it was nothing to write home about but it does the job after an early start and when in need of food. Soon enough, it was time to head to Gate Number 30 which, as always, felt the furthest away in the whole terminal. This seemed an oddity, considering we would be travelling in one of the smaller planes in the Finnair fleet. Whilst waiting to board it’s always interesting to be on a flight with airlines that relies on connecting tickets to see where the exotic destinations people are travelling to and the joy that travelling brings to them, whether for tourism, business or friends and family - something that many are missing in the pandemic era.
The boarding process itself was quite standard if you are used to travelling in Europe - completing after around thirty minutes. The only delay was caused by one traveller carrying a comically oversized trophy which struggled to fit in the overhead bins - one could argue that it was big enough to have its own ticket. The cabin was only about 60% full on this flight, meaning plenty of space for us to move around and get a bit more comfortable on the plane. At my height, standard European flights have tight legroom at around 31 inches but the spare space did ensure we could stretch out a bit for the mid-haul flight.
Once we took off, the flight was….well...very normal and uneventful. There were some overhead screens which displayed virtual maps and some promotional content for Finland as you would expect from the majority state-owned airline. The skies of Europe were extremely clear on the journey with some great #wingview shots.
Like most European airlines, no free food is prrovided with “Nordic Kitchen” buy-on-board or pre-order available on the Finnair website. Prices seemed about average however I didn’t bother trying this out - I’d much rather save my money for something better on the ground! Beverages, including filter coffee, tea, water and blueberry juice, are available, alongside a moreish bite size piece of Fazer chocolate. This at least puts it ahead of other European carriers including:
- British Airways (who have since reinstated free drinks and snack bags)
- Lufthansa Group (who only recently introduced paid buy-on-board)
- Air France KLM
- and just about any airline in Europe whether full service or low cost....
After flicking through a copy of Blue Wings and listening to a few podcasts, the journey soon came to an end - landing into the non-Schengen Terminal 2 at Helsinki Vantaa.
And that is very much it for an uneventful flight from London to Helsinki. The flight departure time is great if:
- you are trying to maximise your time in Finland
- or to have 8-10 hours in the city if on a layover - particularly as most Finnair flights to Asia depart around midnight
- but the passenger experience on Finnair's A320 is exceptionally average.
The cost of the return trip in Economy to Helsinki with no checked baggage was GBP 77 per person - which was around the same as offered by low cost airline Norwegian from London Gatwick. Since visiting, British Airways have ended their flights to Helsinki. Finnair did offer last minute upgrades to Business Class for around £200 per person - on this flight it was the same as the standard Economy with a blocked middle seat and some basic food. This upgrade simply wasn't worth it - in some cases, nevertheless, it can be and I’ll share a little more of this secret with you later in this series.
If you are looking for a slightly better and more comfortable journey, you can take one of the later flights from London to Helsinki at 10h20 or 18h10 on the Airbus A350 widebody - for a long-haul experience (including WiFi and in-seat entertainment) on a short haul flight. There’ll be more on this in the review of the return segment featuring an upgrade to Business Class...but for now I will leave you with a beautiful shot of the A320 tail against a backdrop of a truly stunning Nordic sky... let the journey commence!
Next up in this Helsinki Trip Report is an overview of options to get from Helsinki Airport to the City Centre.