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Flying Finnair to Europe
Under-rated Finnair – the airline from the top of Europe - has come a long way since it operated MD-11s and later A340-300 aircraft on its Asian routes. On prime routes now are the sleek Airbus A350-900 XWB (extra wide body) aircraft – and features editor, John Newton, was only too willing to step aboard one less than 12-months-old and head to the pointy end for a soothing glass of French bubbly. In recent years, Finnair, the first European airline to receive the new A350s, has become a major player on the busy air traffic corridor between Asia and Europe – and vice versa. Now with its spick and span new A350s – it now has eight of them, with three more due for delivery next year and eight more by 2023 (19 in total, making it the biggest investment in Finnair's history), the airline intends to double its Asian traffic by 2020. Asian traffic already represents approximately half of the airline's passenger traffic, with Bangkok (double daily) and Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Seoul, all up to seven weekly. Surprisingly, on my Singapore-Helsinki flight, Finnair's flight attendants were all Asian - something I've not experienced before on long-haul flights to and from Asia on a European carrier. The whisper-quiet A 350 has a 1-2-1 herring bone fully-flat bed seat configuration in business class, except in row 9 where there are just two seats in the middle, behind a galley. All have direct aisle access, but have limited at-seat storage. An advanced 'Nordic Sky' seat-back entertainment system is boosted by free Internet access. Business class food – and no doubt in economy – was a mix of western and Asian, with late dinner main courses ranging from beef stroganoff and barbecue chicken breast salad to prawn malai pepper karma and braised prawns with basmati rice and carrot pea masala. Or, a strange main course of minted green pea soup served with cream. A McGuigan Handmade Shiraz 2013 from Langhorne Creek in South Australia made up four classic red and white wine choices, which also included a French Chateau De Come 2011 (50 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon and 50 per cent Merlot), a French Sauvignon Blanc – Chateau De Rochemorin 2013 and a Villa Maria Private Bin Marlborough Riesling 2015. But topping them all was Finnair's signature drink: Blue Sky, created for the airline's first flight to New York in 1969. It consists of Lapponia blueberry liqueur and Joseph Perrier Cuvee Royale Brut. Simply delicious. Served 90 minutes before touchdown in Helsinki – breakfast, too, was a western or Asian choice. The Asian offering was a spicy start to the day: Nasi Lemak with aromatic steamed rice, fried chicken and fried prawns (again) in sambal sauce with baked fish and mousse cake. The western alternative was a spinach and ricotta cheese omelette with tomato and navy beans stew, chicken sausage and baby asparagus. Throughout the 9272-kilometre flight, Finnair served a variety of snacks and sweets, including cup noodles, filled ciabattas, potato chips, fresh fruits, nuts and dried fruits, toasted corn and chocolates. However, in conjunction with Finland's upcoming centennial anniversary, the national carrier is launching three new food collaborations for its on-board meals which, it says, intend to promote the country's “healthy and hearty food culture”. |
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For business class passengers flying out of Helsinki on long-haul flights between October 4 and January 9 next year, the airline's signature chef has put together an exclusive 100 years-themed menu. It features such Finnish delicacies as Baltic herring, a Karelian stew and a cep mushroom soup flavoured with cured elk (cep mushrooms are regarded as the king of edible mushrooms).
For business class travellers on most long-haul flights to Helsinki between October 4 and January 9,
Finnair will offer elements inspired by the 100 years menu, such as pickled salmon, rainbow trout and a Karelian stew with beef and pork.
The carrier will also celebrate Finland's 100 years by offering rye bread and Karelian pies during the meal service on-board its long-haul flights. Both items were in the top 3 when nearly 50,000 Finns voted in a public call to find Finland's national food as a tribute to the country's centennial anniversary.
It's a pity Finnair – the world's fifth oldest airline - is an off-line carrier and doesn't fly Down Under – and it isn't likely to do so in the near future, according to Geoff Stone, the airline's general manager – Australia-New Zealand. “At the moment, Australia's not on Finnair's radar. There are hardly any European carriers flying here due to the distances and extra costs incurred. But never say never!”
'Finnair says its move in 2015 to introduce “local cabin crew” on its long-haul flights between Helsinki and Hong Kong and Singapore was agreed in negotiations with its cabin crew union, according to Simon Barrette, the airline's communications manager.'
In 2011, he said, Finnair began “a major multi-year cost-cutting program to increase efficiency and performance, but also to enable the future growth we are experiencing now”.
“There were many development actions taken during that period, one of them was to improve labour efficiency.
“We fly well over 300 flights per day. Hong Kong and Singapore are the only long-haul flights that have an entire local cabin crew. On all other long-haul flights, we have a mix of Finnish and local crew to better serve our customers, as many come from the country of origin, such as Korea, Japan, China, etc.”
Finnair's A350-900 version has a two-class configuration 297 seats – 46 in business class, 43 in economy comfort with 10cm (four inches) of added legroom more than the 208 seats in economy.
After push-back from the terminal, Finnair shows a video of the aircraft taxiing and taking off.
It does the same, too, coming into land.
Finnair offers excellent connections from Australia with oneworld partners and flies between Asia/North America and Europe with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki.
Finnair carries more than nine million passengers annually and connects 17 cities in Asia and 3 cities in North America with more than 60 destinations in Europe.
www.finnair.com/au
For business class travellers on most long-haul flights to Helsinki between October 4 and January 9,
Finnair will offer elements inspired by the 100 years menu, such as pickled salmon, rainbow trout and a Karelian stew with beef and pork.
The carrier will also celebrate Finland's 100 years by offering rye bread and Karelian pies during the meal service on-board its long-haul flights. Both items were in the top 3 when nearly 50,000 Finns voted in a public call to find Finland's national food as a tribute to the country's centennial anniversary.
It's a pity Finnair – the world's fifth oldest airline - is an off-line carrier and doesn't fly Down Under – and it isn't likely to do so in the near future, according to Geoff Stone, the airline's general manager – Australia-New Zealand. “At the moment, Australia's not on Finnair's radar. There are hardly any European carriers flying here due to the distances and extra costs incurred. But never say never!”
'Finnair says its move in 2015 to introduce “local cabin crew” on its long-haul flights between Helsinki and Hong Kong and Singapore was agreed in negotiations with its cabin crew union, according to Simon Barrette, the airline's communications manager.'
In 2011, he said, Finnair began “a major multi-year cost-cutting program to increase efficiency and performance, but also to enable the future growth we are experiencing now”.
“There were many development actions taken during that period, one of them was to improve labour efficiency.
“We fly well over 300 flights per day. Hong Kong and Singapore are the only long-haul flights that have an entire local cabin crew. On all other long-haul flights, we have a mix of Finnish and local crew to better serve our customers, as many come from the country of origin, such as Korea, Japan, China, etc.”
Finnair's A350-900 version has a two-class configuration 297 seats – 46 in business class, 43 in economy comfort with 10cm (four inches) of added legroom more than the 208 seats in economy.
After push-back from the terminal, Finnair shows a video of the aircraft taxiing and taking off.
It does the same, too, coming into land.
Finnair offers excellent connections from Australia with oneworld partners and flies between Asia/North America and Europe with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki.
Finnair carries more than nine million passengers annually and connects 17 cities in Asia and 3 cities in North America with more than 60 destinations in Europe.
www.finnair.com/au