Retro Review: Finnair Business Class, Helsinki-London

Finnair business class, Helsinki to London

Flight: AY839
Departure time in Helsinki (HEL): 14:05
Arrival time in London (LHR): 15:10
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Seat: 3C
Duration: 3h 5m
Date of flight: September 25, 2013
* This is an award ticket, Business Class flight #31

I booked this flight about five months before our trip and since I wanted to test as many airlines and visit as many lounges as possible, I decided to route via Helsinki on the way to London with Finnair, and then to Male via Abu Dhabi with Etihad. I also made sure that we would have a fairly long connecting time at London Heathrow so we could take a short trip to the city (which by the way I haven't visited yet) and then back to the airport. Due to a problem with the aircraft while still in Helsinki, our arrival time in London was almost two hours delayed. Well I guess there would be another time for me to visit this city 😉

Finnair Lounge, Non-Schengen

A separate review of this lounge can be found here.

Aircraft, Airbus A320

From the gate, I was able to take a picture of the Airbus 320 which would take us to London.

Boarding, Gate 37

Boarding at Gate 37 started on time, with business and premium customers getting to board first followed by economy class passengers.

Business Class Cabin

Finnair logo in front of the business class cabin

The business class cabin has 22 seats, 10 of which were occupied that day.

Delay

At 2:05PM, just as all the passengers were on board, the captain came onto the PA and informed us that one of the main landing tires was damaged and that it would take about an hour to do the change. He also apologized for the fact that had they discovered it sooner, they could have avoided boarding the passengers and instead let them wait at the airport premise.

While waiting for the tire to be changed, we were served some drinks and snacks.

After more than an hour, we started for push back and I have to say that it was the most awaited moment for most of us.

Seat 3C

As it was an intra-Europe flight, there was no TV screen on the seats.

Dining

Business class menu card

As anticipated, it was a Scandinavian meal plus a small bottle of Joseph Perrier Cuvee Royal. Among the alcoholic drinks onboard were Renault Carte Noire Extra, Glenfiddich, Chivas Regal, Bombay Gin and of course, the Finlandia vodka 😉

Appetizer

The main course consisted of meatballs and mashed potatoes 😋

Dessert

Lavatory

The lavatory was always kept clean with a tray of towels. I have flown with Lufthansa several times from Stockholm to Frankfurt in business class and I don't remember seeing towels in the toilet so this is pretty impressive.

Arrival in London Heathrow

Upon landing which was around 5pm, I caught site of two Qantas Airbus 380. I believe they were the ones flying from Australia to London via Dubai.

CONCLUSION

As usual, there were positives and negatives on this flight. The positive was the food and service. The negative was that we had to wait for an hour in Helsinki while the tire was being changed, and another hour flying around London before landing since there were too many aircraft operating that time. Of course, it was something we didn't have control of. But would I fly Finnair again? Definitely yes. Again, Kiitos 😍