According to the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper there will be a sauna and a day-spa in late 2009 in the new non-Schengen terminal. I am not sure if it is open to everyone or just passengers with lounge access.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nordic
According to the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper there will be a sauna and a day-spa in late 2009 in the new non-Schengen terminal. I am not sure if it is open to everyone or just passengers with lounge access.
I believe the sauna and spa complex is part of the new non-Schengen transit lounge.
Very good news indeed!
Edited: The are nice pictures of the new lounge in the Finnair website gallery. I really hope this is not some strange April fools joke.
I believe the sauna and spa complex is part of the new non-Schengen transit lounge.
Very good news indeed!
Edited: The are nice pictures of the new lounge in the Finnair website gallery. I really hope this is not some strange April fools joke.
Yep, the gallery is here, you have to click IMAGES AND VIDEOS -> Airport service to find them (why don't they provide easily referrable links? ). It actully looks very nice, indeed!
There's also a Finnair press release, but only in Finnish at least for time being. One would expect them to make it in English, too, especially as it says that the new facilities are mainly intended for use of the transfer passengers to/from Asia.
Originally Posted by http://www.helsinki-vantaa.fi/hel_pressrelease?id=71019
1.4.08 International terminal to have a luxurious wellness spa and a state-of-the-art baggage handling centre
The work on the extension of the Helsinki-Vantaa International Terminal is making rapid progress, and the new state-of-the-art facilities will start serving long-haul passengers in autumn 2009. Design focus has been on ensuring a smooth flow of passengers and providing those using the airport with new experiences.
The new services of the International Terminal will include Finnair’s high-quality spa and the stylish via.Helsinki-lounge. Long-haul passengers can enjoy a unique runway view while sitting in the sauna or, alternatively, they can indulge themselves by taking soothing treatments.
“The fact that we are adding luxurious wellness, spa and lounge services means that world-class services will now also be available to Finnish passengers,” explains Juha-Pekka Pystynen, Finavia airport director at Helsinki-Vantaa.
Finavia will spend more than half of the money it is investing in the extension project on a state-of-the-art baggage handling centre. Its handling system will be based on the latest technology used at the largest international airports. Some 20,000 square metres of additional space will be allocated to baggage handling and sorting.
Because of the extra space and modern technology, the airport will be able to handle more than four million additional pieces of baggage each year. Pystynen believes that increased capacity will also mean better service for passengers and smoother Asian traffic.
A 280-metre-long tunnel lying at a depth of 22 metres has been excavated under the International Terminal, connecting its new and existing baggage facilities. The total length of the handling system will be more than 10 km, and it will have a peak capacity of 7,000 pieces of baggage per hour.
Finavia started work on the extension of the Helsinki-Vantaa International Terminal in September 2006, and the first stage will be ready in autumn 2009. The project is estimated to cost EUR 143 million, making it Finavia’s biggest investment ever.
This is great news. 1580 square meters of lounge space with sauna & spa...now that's sounds like they are on track! Interesting thing in the Finnish press release is that the new lounge complex it said to be available also as pay per visit -basis on top of the standard class of service/status access.
First tought it was a april fool's thing since there wasnt any english press release
My exact initial thought but then I thinked for about 2 secs and came to a conclusion that even Finnair's Press department isn't SO stupid that they'd joke about their own improved service propositions
I know this has been discussed before but the more I think of it the more I have to agree with other posters both here and on other forums as well.
AY lounges at HEL airport are simply the worst home base lounges any Oneworld airline is offering as of today (I must admit that I have no personal experience about Royal Jordanian or Malev home base lounges after they have joined OW, though). Finnair HEL so called premium lounge is:
1. way too small to cope with the current Asian traffic
2. offering only very basic amenities (only one shower, for example and no usable internet)
3. offering very poor food and drink selection
4. staff is (often) totally incompetent to offer full FF services (like rebooking or seat selection services, for example, which are among the basic things a FF lounge should be able to do at carriers home base as I think of it)
The other AY lounges at HEL do not even deserve to be commented, IMHO.
I would like to know what non Finnish FFs (and of course Finnish as well )think about the AY lounge situation?
Excepting the first item's application to the non-Schengen lounge, this is still a very good summary of the HEL-ish lounge situation. With regard to the fourth item above, staff routinely try to direct customers to exit the lounge and go to the transfer desk to work out such issues as those mentioned above.
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To be fair, it's not that the staff is incompetent or unhelpfull, but are simply not trained for those tasks, as they dont work for Finnair...
Out of the airports thru which I fly frequently, AY seems to be the OW airline whose primary hub lounge staff seems the least empowered to do things for their customers. AA, BA, CX, IB and LA seem to manage this aspect better in my experience.
Whether or not the staff work for Finnair directly -- they don't as you said -- it is ultimately AY's responsbility to have staff capable in the primary hub lounge who are able to service the customers in that lounge without having the customers leave the lounge.
The staff is unhelpful, but that's a function of AY management's doings rather than of the lounge personnel's competency levels.
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This game is not as much fun as it used to be: 2008/2009 Frequent Flyer Program Fleecing Award goes to Delta Airlines
). It actully looks very nice, indeed!
